SEP  25  1914 


Epical  %V^ 


,%v^ 


BS  1665  .A3  1913 
[Adams,  John]  of 

Inverkeilor,  Scotland. 
...The  man  among  the  myrtles 


THE   SHORT   COURSE   SERIES 


THE  MAN  AMONG  THE  MYRTLES 


GENERAL     PREFACE 


The  title  of  the  present  series  is  a  sufficient 
indication  of  its  purpose.  Few  preachers, 
or  congregations,  will  face  the  long  courses 
of  expository  lectures  which  characterised 
the  preaching  of  the  past,  but  there  is  a 
growing  conviction  on  the  part  of  some 
that  an  occasional  short  course,  of  six  or 
eight  connected  studies  on  one  definite 
theme,  is  a  necessity  of  their  mental  and 
ministerial  life.  It  is  at  this  point  the  pro- 
jected series  would  strike  in.  It  would 
suggest  to  those  who  are  mapping  out  a 
scheme  of  work  for  the  future  a  variety  of 
subjects  which  might  possibly  be  utilised  in 
this  way. 

The  appeal,  however,  will  not  be  restricted 
to  ministers  or  preachers.  The  various 
volumes  will  meet  the  needs  of  laymen  and 

ii 


General  Preface 

Sabbath-school  teachers  who  are  interested 
in  a  scholarly  but  also  practical  exposition 
of  Bible  history  and  doctrine.  In  the  hands 
of  office-bearers  and  mission-workers  the 
"  Short  Course  Series "  may  easily  become 
one  of  the  most  convenient  and  valuable 
of  Bible  helps. 

It  need  scarcely  be  added  that  while  an 
effort  has  been  made  to  secure,  as  far  as 
possible,  a  general  uniformity  in  the  scope 
and  character  of  the  series,  the  final  re- 
sponsibility for  the  special  interpretations 
and  opinions  introduced  into  the  separate 
volumes,  rests  entirely  with  the  individual 
contributors. 

A  detailed  list  of  the  authors  and  their 
subjects  will  be  found  at  the  close  of  each 
Volume. 


lU 


Volumes  Already  Published 

A  Cry  for  Justice:  A  Study  in  Amos. 

By  Prof.  John  E.  McFadyen,  D.D. 

The  Beatitudes. 

Rev.  Robert  H.  Fisher,  D.D. 

The  Lenten  Psahns. 
By  the  Editor. 

The  Psalm  of  Psalms. 

By  Prof.  James  Stalker,  D.D. 

The  Song  and  the  Soil. 

By  Prof.  W.  G.  Jordan,  D.D. 

The  Higher  Powers  of  the  Soul. 

By  Rev.  George  M'Hardy,  D.D. 

Jehovah-Jesus. 

By  Rev.  Thomas  Whitelaw,  D.D. 

The  Sevenfold  I  Am, 

By  Rev.  Thomas  Marjoribanks,  B.D. 

The  Man  Among  the  Myrtles. 
By  the  Editor. 


Price  6o  cents  net  per  Volume 


CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Ubc  Sbort  Course  Series      /     ^^„    . 

SEP  '^o  1914 

EDITED   BY 

Rev.  JOHN  ADAMS,  B.D. 


THE   MAN   AMONG 
THE   MYRTLES 

A  STUDY 
IN  ZECHARIAH'S  VISIONS 

BY 

THE    EDITOR 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1913 


TO 


M.  A. 


CONTENTS 


PAue 

I.  The  Prophet  Zechariah  .          .  .       i 

II.  The  Man  among  the  Myrtles   .  •      15 

III.  The  Dishorning  of  the  Nations  .      33 

IV.  The  Man  with  the  Measuring  Line  .      49 
V.  The  Purification  of  the  Church  .      65 

VI.  The  Upbuilding  of  the  Community  .      83 

VII.  The  Cleansing  of  the  Land      .  .    103 

VIII.  The  Justification  of  Providence  .    121 

Appendix        .          .          .          .  .137 

Index  .          .          .          .          .  .141 


**The  fault  is  ours,  not  theirs,  if  we  wilfully  misinterpret 
the  language  of  ancient  prophets,  if  we  persist  in 
understanding  their  words  in  their  outward  and  material 
aspect  only,  and  forget  that  before  language  had 
sanctioned  a  distinction  between  the  concrete  and  the 
abstract,  between  the  purely  spiritual  as  opposed  to  the 
coarsely  material,  the  intention  of  the  speakers  com- 
prehended both  the  concrete  and  the  abstract,  both 
the  material  and  the  spiritual,  in  a  manner  which  has 
become  quite  strange  to  us,  though  it  lives  on  in  the 
language  of  every  true  poet."  ^^^  MiJLLER. 


I 

THE  PROPHET  ZECHARIAH 

Chapter  I.   i-6 


THE  PROPHET  ZECHARIAH 

In  ver.  i  Zechariah  is  described  as  the 
grandson  of  "  Iddo  the  prophet."  Does 
this  mean  that  Iddo  belonged  to  the  same 
prophetical  order  as  his  illustrious  de- 
scendant Zechariah  ?  The  Masoretes  were 
of  opinion  that  it  did.  They  adopted  the 
view  that  when  a  prophet  is  defined  by  the 
addition  of  his  father's  or  grandfather's 
name,  the  ancestor  so  named  was  also  a  seer 
or  prophet.  Consequently  they  have  joined 
together  the  two  Hebrew  words  by  an 
ordinary  connective  accent.  In  this  case, 
however,  they  have  helped  to  confuse  the 
grandfather  of  Zechariah  with  Iddo  the 
seer  who  prophesied  concerning  Jeroboam, 
the  son  of  Nebat,  in  2  Chron.  ix.  29 ;  but 
as  there  is  nothing  in  the  order  of  the 
Hebrew  words  to  necessitate  this  identifica- 
tion the  Revised  Version  prefers  to  insert  a 

3 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 


comma  after  Iddo — "  Iddo,  the  prophet " 
— and  thus  limit  the  designation  "  prophet  " 
to  the  son  of  Berechiah  himself.  The 
insertion  of  the  comma  is  not  so  trivial  as 
it  seems.  It  helps  to  set  in  a  clearer  light 
the  personality  of  the  prophet. 

I.  His  Comparative  Youth. 

As  the  son  of  Berechiah,  Zechariah  must 
have  been  comparatively  young  when  he 
began  to  prophesy  in  B.C.  520.  He  is  not 
to  be  identified  with  the  "young  man" 
referred  to  in  chap.  ii.  4 ;  but  if  his  grand- 
father Iddo  was  one  of  the  priests  who 
went  up  from  Babylon  with  Zerubbabel 
and  Joshua  in  537  (Neh.  xii.  4),  Zechariah 
himself  could  not  have  been  of  any  great 
age  when  he  began  to  prophesy  in  the 
second  year  of  Darius  Hystaspis.  His 
first  recorded  prophecy  overlaps  the  work 
of  Haggai,  being  dated  one  month  earlier 
than  Haggai's  concluding  message  (Zech. 
i.  I  ;  Hag.  ii.  20) ;  but  as  the  latter  was 
one  of  the  old  men  who  had  seen  the 
house  of  God  in  its  former  glory,  Zechariah 

4 


The  Prophet  Zechariah 

can  only  be  described  as  his  younger  and 
more  ideal  colleague.  It  may  even  be 
suggested  that  this  is  the  explanation  of 
the  seemingly  inaccurate  expression  "  unto 
them "  in  ver.  3.  Grammatically  it  can 
only  refer  to  its  antecedent  "  fathers  "  in 
ver.  2  ;  but  as  the  prophet  was  sent,  not 
to  the  fathers,  but  to  the  elders  of  his  own 
generation,  it  is  conceivable  that  Zechariah, 
because  of  his  youth,  allowed  his  thought  to 
include  both  classes  in  one — the  older  men 
who  were  the  leaders  of  the  returned  exiles 
and  the  former  generation  of  Israel  whose 
children  and  representatives  they  were. 
Instinctively,  therefore,  had  he  framed  an 
expression  that  was  equally  applicable  to 
both.  He  placed  the  old  men,  ancient  and 
modern,  in  one  and  the  same  class. 

Still,  this  is  not  to  be  understood  as  im- 
plying that  he  the  exponent  of  a  new  era 
had  nothing  but  cynicism  towards  the  ideals 
of  his  predecessors.  The  merest  suspicion 
that  he  was  prepared  to  stand  aloof  from, 
or  to  hurl  the  cynic's  ban  at,  Israel's  past, 
would  have  disqualified  him  forthwith  as 

5 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

a  divinely-appointed  organ  of  revelation. 
A  true  prophet  must  not  only  address  him- 
self to  the  needs  of  his  ov^n  age ;  he  must  be 
one  w^ith  it  in  its  aspirations  and  problems, 
and  seek  to  elevate  it  to  a  higher  spiritual 
level  by  the  very  depth  of  his  kinship. 
Hence,  instead  of  the  accepted  reading 
"  your  fathers  "  in  ver.  2,  Codex  A^  would 
introduce  the  first  personal  pronoun,  saying, 
"  The  Lord  hath  been  sore  displeased  with 
our  fathers."  There  was  no  conscious  in- 
tention on  Zechariah's  part  to  separate 
himself  from  the  elders  of  the  people. 
Standing  on  the  accepted  basis  of  Israel's 
past,  he  was  only  seeking  to  take  the  exiles 
back  to  the  glory  of  forgotten  ideals.  He 
was  a  reformer,  not  an  innovator  in  the  faith 
and  customs  of  their  fathers.  And  in  this 
respect  he  was  a  teacher  for  all  time.  It 
is  no  mark  of  greatness  in  any  age  when 
reverence  for  the  past  is  conspicuous  by 
its  absence.  The  first  test  of  a  growing 
and  vigorous  national  life  is  gratitude  for 
those  who  have  gone  before. 
1  The  Septuagint, 

6 


The  Prophet  Zechariah 

2.  The  Severity  of  the  Fathers'  Fate. 

"  The  Lord  hath  been  sore  displeased 
with  our  fathers  " — lit.,  hath  been  angry 
with  anger — a  Hebraic  expression,  consist- 
ing of  the  finite  verb  with  its  cognate 
accusative,  and  designed  to  bring  out  the 
intensity  of  the  verbal  action  or  the  awe- 
inspiring  energy  of  the  divine  wrath.  So 
intensely  did  the  Septuagint  translators 
feel  this  that  they  introduced  the  adjective 
"great"  from  chap.  vii.  12,  and  read, 
"  The  Lord  hath  been  incensed  against  our 
fathers  with  a  great  indignation.'^^ 

The  explanation  of  this  wrath  is  to  be 
sought  in  the  peculiar  heinousness  of  the 
sin.  Their  fathers  had  been  guilty,  not 
only  of  walking  in  evil  ways,  or  practising 
evil  doings,  but  also  of  continued  impeni- 
tence and  disobedience  after  they  had  been 
summoned  to  submission.  It  was  refusal 
to  hear,  or  apostasy.  Disobedience,  in  its 
strict  sense,  may  simply  mean  a  failure  to 
hear,  or  hearing  amiss,  but  the  notion  of 
active  disobedience,  which  so  easily  follows 

7 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

this  inattentive  or  careless  hearing,  is  readily 
superinduced  on  the  original  signification. 
Remissness  on  the  part  of  Israel  when 
Jehovah  is  the  speaker  is  really  rebellion  or 
apostasy  in  essence.  These  two  stages  in  the 
development  of  moral  evil  are  quite  dis- 
tinctly marked  by  the  two  Hebrew  synonyms 
employed  by  Zechariah.  Not  only  did  the 
fathers  fail  to  hear,  when  the  former 
prophets  remonstrated  with  them,  but  they 
refused  to  incline  their  ears,  or  give  atten- 
tion, when  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel, 
drew  near  to  confirm  or  vindicate  His 
word.  "  They  did  not  heaty  nor  hearken 
unto  Me,  saith  the  Lord." 

In  consequence  that  former  generation 
had  been  compelled  to  bear  the  severity 
of  divine  chastisement.  As  a  nation  they 
had  succumbed  and  disappeared  amid  the 
dark  storm-clouds  of  the  exile.  "  Out  of 
the  north  "  had  come  that  dreaded  scourge 
depicted  by  Jeremiah.  The  contents  of  the 
seething  cauldron  had  been  poured  over 
the  land,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
learned,  when  too  late,  that  the  Parable  of 

8 


The  Prophet  Zechariah 

the  Almond  Branch,  no  less  than  of  the 
seething  cauldron,  had  been  tragically  fulfilled 
— "  I  am  watching  over  My  word  to  perform 
it  "  (Jer.  i.  12,  14).  Is  this  not  the  meaning 
of  the  emphatic  Paseq  in  Zech.  i.  6  ?  It  is 
placed  after  the  adversative  "  but "  to 
bring  out  the  striking  contrast  between 
transitory  human  life  and  the  enduring 
and  unfailing  potency  of  the  divine  word. 
"  Your  fathers,  where  are  thev  ?  and  the 
prophets,  do  they  live  for  ever  ?  But  My 
words  and  My  statutes  .  .  .  did  they  not 
overtake  your  fathers  ?  "  (R.V.)  "  Rarely 
has  punishment,  though  lame,  failed  to 
overtake  the  criminal  fleeing  before  her  ?  "  ^ 
So  it  fared  with  Israel.  She  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  Jehovah's  word,  but  it  dogged  her 
footsteps  like  a  divine  goel^  and  overtook 
her  at  the  last. 

3.  The  Call  to  Repentance. 

"  Return  unto  Me  .  .  .  and  I  will  return 
unto  you,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts  "  (ver.  3). 
Does  this  mean  that  the  returning  grace  of 

^  Horace,  Carm,  in.  2,  31. 

9 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

Jehovah  was  dependent  on  the  heartfelt 
penitence  of  the  people  ?  No,  the  preacher, 
in  reading  this  great  text,  may  well  follow 
the  hints  supplied  by  the  Hebrew  tenses,  and 
prepare  himself  for  one  of  the  profoundest 
lessons  of  Old  Testament  theology.  In 
Sermons  in  Syntax^  the  suggestion  has 
been  hazarded  that  while  the  idiom  here 
employed  undoubtedly  expresses  design  or 
purpose  in  a  sufficient  number  of  instances, 
there  are  not  lacking  others  where  the 
element  of  sequence  is  allowed  to  recede 
into  the  background,  and  the  clauses  con- 
nected by  "  and  "  are  conceived  simply  as 
co-ordinate.  Cf.  Gen.  xvii.  1-2,  "  Walk 
before  Me,  and  be  thou  perfect.  And  I 
will  make  My  covenant  between  Me  and 
thee."  The  "  and  "  here  is  not  consecutive 
in  the  sense  that  the  framing  of  a  covenant 
is  made  dependent  on  the  perfect  allegiance 
of  the  man.  The  spring  of  the  divine 
action  is  found  in  El  Shaddai  Himself,  and 
since  both  the  allegiance  and  the  covenant 
are  traced  back,  like  'parallel  streams,  to  His 

1  P.  220. 
10 


The  Prophet  Zechariah 

revealed  will  and  character,  the  connection 
between  them  is  suitably  represented  by 
the  insertion  of  the  simple  copulative. 
*'Walk  before  Me"  is,  therefore,  a  divine 
injunction  that  looks  in  both  directions — 
back  to  the  character  of  El  Shaddai  and 
forward  to  the  fulness  of  the  covenant. 
Nevertheless  it  is  not  the  covenant  that  is 
contingent  on  the  obedience  :  it  is  the 
obedience  that  is  stimulated  by  the  covenant. 
"  When  it  is  said  in  Scripture,  *  Turn  ye 
unto  Me  and  I  will  turn  unto  you,'  we  are 
reminded  of  our  freewill.  When  we  reply, 
*  Turn  us  to  Thee,  O  Lord,  and  we  shall 
be  turned,'  we  confess  that  we  are  first 
aided  (prcevenirt)  by  the  grace  of  God."  ^ 

This  is  the  key  to  our  present  passage. 
God  has  not  waited  for  Israel's  response. 
The  God  of  their  fathers  has  taken  the 
initiative.  The  mere  fact  that  Zechariah 
has  now  appeared  as  an  organ  of  revelation 
is  the  one  proof  needed  that  Jehovah,  the 
God  of  Israel,  has  turned  to  them  with  the 
wonders  of  His  grace,  and  that  they,  on  their 

^  Concil.  Trident. y  cited  by  Pusey. 
II 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

part,  should  return  to  Him  with  open 
hearts.  For  why  thus  dwell  on  the  love  of 
God  for  Israel,  if  not  to  incite  responsive 
love  in  Israel — responsive  love  as  the  deepest 
motive  for  Old  Testament  morality  ?  Legal 
righteousness  is  not  the  burthen  of  the  Old 
Testament  after  all,  and  legal  righteousness 
is  not,  and  cannot  be,  the  burthen  of  any 
New  Testament  creed.  Righteousness,  as 
in  the  Pauline  Epistles,  is  often  a  synonym 
for  grace.  There  was  a  Power,  not  them- 
selves, making  for  mercy. 

Therefore  be  ye  not  as  your  fathers,  unto 
whom  the  former  prophets  prophesied  in 
vain.  But  be  ye  as  your  fathers'  God,  the 
framer  and  vindicator  of  the  covenant. 
For  He  has  returned  unto  you  in  love,  and 
will  return  more  and  more,  as  you  are 
prepared  by  prayer  and  heartfelt  contrition 
for  the  fulness  of  the  revelation.  Say,  then, 
with  Herrick  in  Noble  Numbers  : — 

**  Sick  is  my  heart !     O  Saviour  !    do  Thou  please 
To  make  my  bed  soft  in  my  sicknesses  : 
Lighten  my  candle,  so  that  I  beneath 
Sleep  not  for  ever  in  the  vaults  of  death  ; 

12 


The  Prophet  Zechariah 

Let  me  Thy  voice  betimes  i'  th*  morning  hear : 
Call,  and  I'll  come  ;  say  Thou  the  when,  and  where. 
Draw  me  but  Jirstj  and  after  Thee  Fll  run 
And  make  no  one  stop  till  my  race  be  done." 


»3 


II 

THE  MAN  AMONG  THE  MYRTLES 

Chapter  I.  7-17 


THE   MAN  AMONG  THE  MYRTLES 

Three  months  have  elapsed  since  the 
prophet's  first  call  to  repentance,  and  in 
the  interval  no  response  has  been  made 
to  the  urgency  of  his  appeal.  Probably 
the  leaders  of  the  people  felt  that  as  there 
was  no  sign  of  the  promised  political  up- 
heaval (Hag.  ii.  21-23)  they  had  no  en- 
couragement to  go  on  with  the  work,  and 
no  pledge  that  the  rebuilding  of  the  walls 
would  be  crowned  with  anything  like 
success.  In  these  circumstances  repent- 
ance might  be  an  indispensable  require- 
ment ;  but  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
impoverishment  of  the  exile  was  still  lying 
upon  them,  and  that  the  Messianic  crisis 
was  still  an  unrealised  hope,  what  could 
the  community  do  but  follow  the  safe 
policy  of  waiting,  or  cry,  like  the  man 
among   the   myrtles,    "  O   Lord  of   Hosts, 

B  17 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

how  long  wilt  Thou  not  have  mercy  on 
Jerusalem  .  .  .  against  which  Thou  hast 
had  indignation  these  threescore  and  ten 
years  ?  "  Zechariah  himself  was  prepared 
to  re-echo  that  cry.  He  was  a  priest  no 
less  than  a  prophet.  He  would  identify 
himself  with  the  people  in  all  their  aspira- 
tions and  problems ;  and,  therefore,  gather- 
ing into  his  own  bosom  the  perplexities 
that  weighed  upon  them,  he  resolved  to 
go  in  before  Jehovah,  and  among  the 
myrtle-trees  of  a  divine  contemplation 
think  out  the  whole  mysterious  providence 
for  himself. 


I.  Zechariah  among  the  Myrtle- 
Trees. 

Following  the  imagery  of  chap.  vi.  i,  the 
Septuagint  reads  "  mountains  "  instead  of 
"  myrtles  "  in  ver.  8,  though  the  two  pas- 
sages, in  character  and  diction,  are  not  by 
any  means  identical.  The  term  is,  no 
doubt,  a  late  one,  not  being  found  earlier 
than  Deutero-Isaiah,  but  it  is  sufficiently 

i8 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

attested  by  Isa.  xli.  19,  etc.,  and  by  the 
Arabic  word  hadas,  which  is  still  found  in 
the  modern  dialect  of  Yemen.  A  similar 
interest  attaches  to  the  term  metsulah 
(ver.  8),  which  may  be  rendered  "  a  valley 
bottom,"  or  "  a  shady  place,"  according 
as  it  is  derived  from  the  root  tsul  or  tsalal — 
the  Septuagint  being  in  favour  of  the 
latter  rendering. 

Somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  Jerusalem, 
perhaps  in  the  deep  ravine  of  the  Kedron, 
the  prophet  found  a  grove  of  myrtle-trees 
where  he  could  retire  for  silent  meditation 
and  prayer.  And  here,  for  three  months, 
sometimes  by  day  and  oft-times  by  night, 
he  had  burdened  himself  with  the  people's 
anxieties,  and  waited  for  a  divine  answer 
to  their  cry.  Like  Jesus  among  the  olive 
trees  of  the  same  Kedron  valley,  Zechariah 
wrestled  and  waited  for  the  unveiling  of 
the  divine  purpose.  And  when  it  came, 
draped  in  the  alluring  symbolism  of  the 
night,  it  was  simply  the  solicitude  of  his 
waking  hours  that  erected  and  peopled 
the  stage  of  his  nocturnal  vision.    We  are 

19 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

reminded  of  Savonarola  in  his  efforts  to 
arouse  the  magnates  of  Florence.  He  had 
read  and  re-read  the  prophets  of  Israel  in 
preparation  for  his  great  sermons ;  and,  as 
his  biographer  so  justly  remarks,  it  was 
not  surprising  that  in  this  state  of  mind  he 
should  have  beheld  visions.  The  night 
before  his  last  Advent  sermon  he  saw  in  the 
middle  of  the  sky  a  hand  bearing  a  sword, 
upon  which  these  words  were  inscribed, 
Gladius  Domini  super  terram  cito  et  velo- 
citer.  Suddenly  the  sword  was  turned 
towards  the  earth ;  the  sky  darkened ; 
arrows  and  flames  rained  down ;  terrible 
thunderclaps  were  heard ;  and  all  the 
world  was  a  prey  to  war,  famine  and  pesti- 
lence. The  vision  ended  with  a  command 
to  Savonarola  to  make  these  things  known 
to  his  hearers,  to  inspire  them  with  the 
fear  of  God,  and  to  beseech  the  Lord  to 
send  good  shepherds  to  His  church,  so  that 
the  lost  sheep  might  be  saved.^ 

The  real  point  of  interest  is  that  in  both 
instances  the  vision  came  as  the  result  of 

1  Villari,  p.  154. 
20 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

long-continued  freparation.  It  is  of  no 
vital  significance  whether  the  message  came 
in  the  plastic  form  of  a  dream,  and  during 
the  hours  of  sleep  (cf.  Ps.  cxxvii.  2,  R.V. 
margin)  ;  or  in  the  more  graphic  delinea- 
tion of  a  midnight  vision  beheld  among 
the  myrtle-trees  themselves ;  or,  what  is 
not  at  all  unlikely,  that  it  came  in  the 
normal  way  of  spiritual  intuition,  as  the 
revealing  spirit  suggested  to  the  brooding 
prophet  the  nature  of  the  divine  message, 
and  allowed  him  to  convey  it  to  the  leaders 
of  the  people  in  the  metaphorical  language 
of  the  poets.^  In  either  case,  the  laws  of 
language,  as  of  psychology,  are  fully  recog- 
nised in  its  depiction,  and  a  period  of  pre- 
paration is  divinely  crowned  by  a  definite 
communication  of  truth.  Was  it  not  so 
even  on  the  hill  of  transfiguration  ?  "  As  He 
frayed^  the  fashion  of  His  countenance 
was  altered,  and  His  raiment  was  white  and 
glistering."  Ah,  child  of  the  Kingdom, 
go  and  kneel  beside  thy  Saviour  !  Thou 
art  never  so  great  nor  so  strong  as  when 
1  Cf.  the  phrase  "  talked  <with  "  or  "  in  me,'*  ver,  9. 

21 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

thou  kneelest  beside  Him.  That  is  the 
way  to  feed  thy  better  nature  and  to  feel 
thy  kinship  with  the  skies.  The  blessed 
light  of  transfiguration  falls  upon  every 
Zechariah  who  prays. 


2.  The  Man  among  the  Myrtles. 

Wellhausen's  remark  that  the  original 
text  has  been  corrupted  by  a  later  writer, 
"  who  confused  the  man  among  the  myrtles, 
i.e.,  Jehovah  Himself,  with  the  angel  inter- 
preter," is  one  that  raises  the  whole  question 
as  to  the  number  of  dramatis  'persona 
introduced  by  Zechariah  into  his  vision. 
Probably,  as  a  first  step,  it  is  enough  to 
postulate  two  personal  factors — the  divine 
and  the  human.  On  the  one  side  we  have 
the  approach  of  a  divine  personality  seeking 
intercourse  with  the  human  ;  and,  on  the 
other,  a  spiritually  prepared  instrument, 
responsive  like  an  -^olian  harp  to  the  felt 
breath  of  the  Eternal.  These  two  correlated 
factors  enter  into  personal  communion,  and 
a  divinely-inspired  message  is  the  result.     In 

22 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

the  filling  in  of  this  outline,  however,  the 
sacred  artist  has  gone  far  beyond  the  re- 
quirements of  so  simple  a  dualism.  Alike 
on  its  divine  and  human  sides,  he  has  elab- 
orated his  sketch  into  a  finished  canvas, 
v^hich  is  not  only  indebted  to  the  teaching 
of  the  past,  but  is  charged  also  with  the 
inspiring  prospect  of  a  coming  Messianic 
ideal.  It  is  a  marvellous  creation  this 
theophany  among  the  myrtle-trees ;  and 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  the  prophetic 
limner,  in  filling  in  the  details,  has  wavered 
between  the  angel  and  the  man.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  man  among  the 
myrtles  and  the  angel  of  the  Lord  (vers,  ii, 
12)  are  practically  identical,  and  are  well 
fitted  in  their  union  to  express  Zechariah's 
conception  of  the  Divine.  On  its  human 
side,  too,  a  similar  elaboration  of  the 
picture  is  not  difficult  to  trace.  The 
waiting  prophet  is  represented  as  assisted 
and  instructed  by  a  heavenly  exegete,  who 
is  not  unlike  the  interpreting  angel  of 
Job  xxxiii.  23.  In  this,  again,  we  have  a 
distinct  reminiscence  of  the  past,  but  with 

23 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

an  equally  profound  anticipation  of  the 
future.  In  the  last  resort,  the  heavenly 
exegete  points  us  forward  to  that  great 
instructor  of  the  human  conscience,  the 
divine  spirit  of  revelation,  who  would  ulti- 
mately dwell  in  the  human  heart  and  guide 
God's  people  into  all  the  truth.  In  fine, 
in  the  completed  picture  of  what  took  place 
in  the  grove  of  myrtles  we  have  at  once  a 
definite  foreshadowing  of  the  Incarnation 
and  a  clear  anticipation  of  Pentecost. 

Not  indeed  that  the  prophet  himself  knew, 
or  could  know,  that  this  was  the  necessary 
outcome  of  his  symbolism ;  but  if  Socrates 
in  the  Symposium,  or  Phaedrus  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ilissus,  could  convey  glimpses  of 
the  future,  which  could  hardly  have  been 
understood  at  the  time  when  they  were 
uttered,^  why  might  not  the  seer  on  the 
banks  of  the  Kedron  receive  and  convey 
glimpses  of  a  coming  Messianic  ideal  that 
are  no  less  suggestive  in  their  imagery  ? 
Hebrew  prophecy  is  not  less  than  Grecian 
philosophy ;  and  if  Zechariah  sought  to 
1  Jowett's  translation,  vol.  ii.  p.  3. 
24 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

portray  his  communion  with  the  Divine 
in  terms  that  are  eloquent  of  the  future, 
we  may  interpret  the  entire  vision  in  the 
light  of  that  fact,  and  paraphrase  it  as 
follows : — 

At  the  hour  of  night  he  beheld  a  man 
(not  a  rider  ^)  standing  among  the  myrtle- 
trees  that  were  in  the  valley  bottom,  and 
behind  him,  on  horses  red,  sorrel,  and  white, 
a  company  of  apocalyptical  riders,  who  were 
awaiting  his  commands.  Greatly  astonished 
at  the  sight  of  these  mounted  scouts,  the 
prophet  could  only  ejaculate,  "  What  are 
these,  my  lord  ? "  although,  as  he  asked 
the  question,  he  was  intuitively  assured 
(ver.  9^)  that  a  divine  answer  would  speedily 
be  forthcoming.  Whereupon  the  man 
among  the  myrtles  answered  and  said, 
"  These  are  they  whom  the  Lord  hath  sent 
to  walk  to  and  fro  through  the  earth ;  and 
even  now  they  have  arrived  from  their 
commission  to  report  what  they  have  seen 
and  heard."  And  they,  recognising  the 
signal  to  draw  near,  said  to  the  man  among 
1  Cf.  Kitters  footnotes. 

25 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

the  myrtles,  "  We  have  walked  to  and  fro 
through  the  earth,  and  behold  there  is  no 
sign  of  any  impending  change — all  the  earth 
sitteth  still,  and  is  at  rest."  This  was 
sad  news  !  for  all  these  months  the  prophet 
had  been  waiting  for  some  sign  of  the 
coming  political  ferment  which  was  to  be 
the  token  of  their  promised  Messianic  de- 
liverance. Yet  even  while  he  lingered,  the 
man  among  the  myrtles  lifted  his  eyes  to 
heaven,  and  said,  "  O  Lord  of  Hosts,  how 
long  wilt  Thou  not  have  mercy  on  Jeru- 
salem .  .  .  against  which  Thou  hast  had 
indignation  these  threescore  and  ten  years  ?  " 
It  was  enough  !  The  Church  of  God  had 
at  last  found  a  champion.  The  cause  of 
Israel  had  been  espoused  by  a  divine 
kinsman  or  goel,  and  even  though  he  did 
not  stand  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand, 
like  the  Captain  of  the  Lord's  host  in  Josh, 
v.  14,  he  held  and  wielded  a  weapon  diviner 
far — what  Bunyan  would  have  called  the 
weapon  of  *'  all  prayer."  He  had  gathered 
into  his  bosom  the  perplexities  that  weighed 
upon  the  nation,  and  among  the  myrtle- 

26 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

trees  of  a  divine  agony  and  appeal  had  spread 
out  the  whole  mysterious  providence  before 
Jehovah.  And  the  answer  given  was  de- 
signed for  the  Church. 


3.  The  Church  among  the  Myrtles. 

Like  Savonarola  at  the  close  of  his  vision, 
Zechariah  is  commissioned  to  make  these 
things  known  to  the  people,  that  they 
might  be  inspired  with  the  fear  of  God, 
and  dedicate  themselves  without  reserve  to 
the  working  out  of  a  divine  purpose.  Hence 
in  verses  13,  14  the  answer  comes,  not  so 
much  to  the  man  among  the  myrtles,  as  to 
Zechariah  himself,  who  is  enjoined  by  the 
angel  who  talked  with  him  to  proclaim  the 
divine  message  to  Israel.  Let  Israel  come 
and  stand  where  he  stood,  in  the  same 
grove  of  myrtles,  and  the  great  spiritual 
lessons  that  had  thrilled  and  comforted  him 
would  also  inspire  and  comfort  her. 

Let  her  learn  first  the  truth  suggested 
by  the  mounted  servants  of  Jehovah. 
Human  life  is  not  so  defenceless  as  many  a 

27 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

harassed  soul  believes.  Divine  agencies  are 
at  work  throughout  the  entire  human 
family,  and  not  only  in  death,  but  chiefly 
in  life,  the  human  spirit  is  attended  by 
those  apocalyptical  riders.  It  may  be  so  in 
death. 

"  Born  *neath  the  curse  of  the  comet, 

Bred  on  the  desert  sand ; 
I  have  roamed  since  my  birth  in  the  wastes  of  the  earth, 

And  die  in  an  alien  land, 
Where  humming-birds  flash  in  the  sunlight. 

And  the  dazzling  orchids  nod ; 
And  a  Rider  waits  on  a  high,  pale  horse 

To  carry  a  soul  to  God. 

The  howl  of  the  hungry  jackal 

Wails  o'er  the  moonlit  plain  ; 
And  I  hear  the  song  and  the  rhythmic  gong 

Of  an  Indian  marriage  train. 
Then  the  vision  fades ;    but  the  Rider  waits 

In  the  moonlight  by  my  side, 
And  gladly  I  clutch  at  his  outstretched  hand 

And  mount  for  my  long  last  ride." 

It  is  a  beautiful  fancy ;  but  how  much 
deeper  is  the  thought  of  Zechariah  that 
Israel,  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  life,  is 
attended  by  those  far-travelled  horsemen. 
The  returned  exiles  were  not  to  imagine 

28 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

that  Jehovah  had  left  them  to  their  own 
resources,  or  that  no  one  was  so  interested 
in  their  national  well-being  as  to  espouse 
or  vindicate  their  cause.  No  one  who  had 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  mounted  servants 
of  Jehovah  in  the  Kedron  valley  would  ever 
weaken  or  disquiet  his  spirit  with  the  fear 
that  he  had  been  left  alone  in  the  battle. 
The  human  wrestler  is  not  alone.  He  is 
guarded  by  divine  agents  who  are  ever  on  the 
alert.  And  no  greater  boon  could  be  con- 
ferred on  any  distressed  soul  than  to  have 
its  eyes  opened,  as  the  eyes  of  Elisha's 
servant  were  opened,  to  behold  the  horses 
and  chariots  of  fire  that  were  round  about 
Elisha  (2  Kings  vi.  17),  Well  may  the 
prayer  of  each  Zechariah  be  : — "  O  Lord 
of  Hosts,  illumine  the  eyes  of  Israel  Thy 
servant,  that  among  the  myrtle-trees  of  a 
divine  contemplation  she  may  behold  the 
mounted  scouts  of  the  Lord." 

On  the  other  hand,  there  was  the  other 
significant  lesson  of  Jehovah's  silence.  His 
mercy  had  been  withdrawn  from  Jerusalem 
these    threescore    and    ten    years.      That 

29 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

silence,  however,  was  not  to  be  interpreted 
as  apathy  or  impotence.  There  might  be 
no  sign  as  yet  of  the  coming  political 
upheaval,  but  the  very  security  in  which  the 
nations  were  resting  was  the  calm  of  a 
ripening  judgment.  Just  as  a  clear  heat 
by  day,  or  a  cloud  of  dew  by  night,  helps  to 
fill  out  and  ripen  the  grain  until  the  day  of 
ingathering  has  come,  so  Jehovah  was 
resting  and  brooding  over  the  affairs  of  the 
nations  until  the  cup  of  their  iniquity  was 
full  (cf.  Isa.  xviii.  4).  Hence  the  voice 
said,  "  Cry,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts  : 
I  am  jealous  for  Jerusalem  with  a  great 
jealousy.  And  I  am  sore  displeased  with 
the  nations  that  are  at  ease  ;  for  I  was  but 
a  little  displeased,  and  they  helped  forward 
the  affliction."  As  in  the  time  of  Nahum, 
the  great  world-powers  had  exceeded  their 
commission.  They  had  carried  the  chastise- 
ment of  Israel  far  beyond  the  divine  inten- 
tion. In  the  ruthlessness  of  their  conquest 
they  had  violated  every  instinct  of  humanity, 
and  therefore  the  violence  with  which  they 
had  subjugated  the  conquered  states  would 

30 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

recoil  on  their  own  heads,  and  they  would 
perish  in  the  flames  of  their  own  kindling. 

For  this  reason,  and  as  a  concluding 
lesson,  let  Israel  forthwith  begin  the  work 
of  restoration*  Her  warrant  for  so  doing 
was  found  in  the  intervention  of  her  covenant 
God.  The  verbal  form  "  I  am  returned  " 
at  the  beginning  of  ver.  i6  is  not  to  be 
regarded  as  a  prophetic  perfect,  announcing 
the  certainty  of  a  coming  event,  like  the 
future  "  T  will  return  "  of  the  Septuagint. 
It  is  a  simple  present  perfect,  indicating 
the  reality  of  a  past  action,  but  one  con- 
tinued into  the  present — a  past  action 
which  was  Israel's  sufficient  warrant  for 
addressing  herself  to  the  work.  "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  :  I  am  returned  to  Jerusalem 
with  mercies.  My  house  shall  be  built  in 
it  .  .  .  (yea)  My  cities  through  prosperity 
shall  be  spread  abroad,  and  the  Lord  shall 
yet  have  mercy  upon  (LXX)  Zion,  and 
shall  yet  choose  Jerusalem."  In  fact,  He 
who  had  chosen  Israel  at  the  first  as  His 
Kingdom  of  priests.  His  Jeshurun,  had  again 
returned  to  the  object  of  His  choice,  and 

31 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

comforted  her  with  the  fulness  of  His 
love.  No  higher  instruction  could  be  given 
and  no  worthier  service  could  be  engaged 
in.  Israel  was  invited  to  stand  among  the 
myrtle-trees  of  a  deep,  spiritual  communion, 
that  the  election  of  love  might  be  responded 
to  by  the  obedience  of  law.  That  is  the 
sum  of  the  whole  matter.  Jehovah  had 
returned  to  Jerusalem  with  covenant  love ; 
therefore  Israel  must  arise  and  build. 


32 


Ill 

THE  DISHORNING  OF  THE  NATIONS 

Chapter  II.  1-4 

(In  Hebrew) 


33 


THE  DISHORNING  OF  THE 
NATIONS 

The  second  vision  follows  in  natural  sequence 
upon  the  first ;  but  this  is  no  reason  for 
placing  it  in  the  same  chapter,  as  the  English 
Bible  has  done,  and  ignoring  the  plain, 
logical  arrangement  of  the  Hebrew  Text. 
The  third  vision,  no  less  than  the  second, 
is  the  natural  expansion  of  the  first ;  and 
if  all  the  three  scenes  are  not  to  be  collected 
in  one,  it  is  more  appropriate  to  leave  the 
first  vision  in  a  chapter  by  itself,  and  arrange 
the  two  supplementary  pictures  as  the 
Hebrew  Bible  has  done.  In  the  vision 
among  the  myrtle-trees,  the  divine  inter- 
position was  represented  under  a  twofold 
aspect.  It  contained  at  once  a  threat  of 
divine  punishment  against  the  nations,  and 
a  promise  of  divine  blessing  upon  the  dis- 
tressed  people  of   Jehovah.     And  as  these 

35 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

two  correlated  aspects  shape  themselves 
into  independent  visions,  the  dishorning 
of  the  nations  (ii.  1-4)  and  the  surveying 
and  measuring  of  Jerusalem  (ii.  5-17)  is 
the  result. 

The  dishorning  of  the  nations  is  rightly 
taken  first ;  for,  in  the  estimation  of  the 
Jewish  community,  no  blessing  for  Israel 
could  be  expected  until  the  promised 
political  upheaval  was  a  fully  realised  fact. 
Hence  the  seer  on  the  banks  of  the  Kedron 
must  again  Hft  up  his  eyes,  to  catch  the 
first  glimpse  of  the  coming  Weltkrisis — 
that  dies  irae  which  was  to  be  the  sign  of 
TsraeFs  Messianic  deliverance.  And  as  he 
gazed  and  waited  for  the  divine  unveiling, 
the  Kedron  valley  was  again  illumined 
by  the  weird-like  symbolism  of  the  night. 

I.  The  Four  Horns. 

"  And  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  saw, 
and  behold  four  horns.  And  I  said  unto 
the  angel  that  talked  with  me,  What  be 
these  ?     And  he  answered  me,  These  are 

36 


The  Dishorning  of  the    Nations 

the  horns  which  have  scattered  Judah 
and  Israel  " — omitting  "  Jerusalem  "  with 
various  MSS.  of  the  Septuagint. 

In  these  horns  we  have  a  graphic  delinea- 
tion of  the  nations'  sin.  As  represented 
in  the  first  vision,  the  world-powers  had 
helped  forward  Israel's  affliction  by  visit- 
ing upon  the  subjugated  states  the  barbari- 
ties of  ancient  warfare.  Well  may  Zechariah 
use  the  intensive  form  of  the  verb,  to 
scatter ;  for  they  had  tossed  and  gored 
the  vanquished  nation  like  so  many  infuri- 
ated bulls.  We  sometimes  speak  of  the 
barbarities  of  modern  warfare,  and  heaven 
forbid  that  anyone  should  seek  to  minimise 
its  horrors.  But  modern  warfare  is  kind- 
ness itself  when  compared  with  the  savage 
cruelties  of  a  Sennacherib  or  a  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. Imagine  the  fiendish  device  of 
flaying  men  alive  !  or  the  inhuman  practice 
of  putting  out  a  captive's  eyes  !  or  dragging 
away  a  batch  of  exiles  with  a  hook  in  their 
nose !  The  Chaldean  conqueror  was  not 
content  with  deporting  the  very  flower  of 
the  nation,  when  Jerusalem  fell  in  586  B.C. 

37 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

In  pure  savagery  he  slew  the  sons  of  Zede- 
kiah  before  his  eyes,  put  out  the  eyes  of 
Zedekiah  himself,  bound  him  in  fetters  and 
carried  him  to  Babylon  (2  Kings  xxv.  7). 
And  in  the  day  when  these  Chaldean 
strangers  entered  the  city  gates,  and  cast 
lots  upon  Jerusalem,  Edom  was  as  one  of 
them.  Instead  of  helping  a  brother  in 
distress,  the  wild  Edomite  chiefs  rejoiced 
over  Israel's  calamity,  grasped  at  a  share 
in  the  spoil,  and  lay  in  wait  to  cut  off  the 
fugitives  (Obad.  11-14).  This  is  the  meaning 
of  the  number  four  as  applied  to  the  horns. 
The  world-powers  who  had  gored  Israel 
in  their  fury,  were  not  one  enemy  here  and 
another  there,  but  enemies  who  had  arisen 
in  all  directions,  and  rushed  in  like  the  four 
winds  to  crush  and  trample  her  life-blood 
in  the  dust. 

As  a  picture  of  this  ferocious  might,  the 
symbolism  of  the  horn  leaves  nothing  to  be 
desired.  Beginning  in  early  Semitic  ritual 
as  a  relic  or  appendage  of  the  altar — for 
in  the  last  resort  the  horns  on  the  altar 
point    back   to    the    actual    heads    of    the 

38 


The  Dishorning  of  the   Nations 

victims* — it  became,  in  the  development 
of  society,  a  no  less  instructive  symbol  of 
kingly  power  (Ps.  cxxxii.  17)  or  military 
strength,  as  when  Zedekiah  the  son  of 
Chenaanah  made  him  ''  horns  of  iron," 
and  said,  "  With  these  shalt  thou  push  the 
Syrians  until  they  be  consumed  "  (i  Kings 
xxii.  1 1).  Even  Bacchus,  when  he  descended 
to  the  realm  of  the  shades,  in  order  to 
bring  back  his  mother  Semele,  had  nothing 
to  fear  from  the  triple-tongued  rage  of 
Cerberus ;  for  he  appeared  before  that 
dreaded  guardian  of  the  infernal  regions 
adorned  with  a  golden  horn  (Horace,  Odes, 
II.  19,  29).  While,  to  complete  the  cycle, 
the  student  will  remember  how  the  imagery 
of  the  horn  has  expanded  into  the  fabled 
cornucopia  of  the  classics,  until,  like  the 
horn  of  the  goat  which  suckled  Jupiter,  it 
has  been  placed  among  the  stars  as  the 
emblem  of  plenty.  Sacrifice,  strength, 
and  plenty !  Probably  the  lambs  of  the 
flock,  if  not  the  children  of  a  larger 
growth,  will   be  interested   and  instructed 

^  See  the  author's  Mosaic  Tabernacle^  p.  69. 

39 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

by  the  development  of  this  expressive 
symbol. 

In  the  present  instance,  the  horn  is  the 
emblem  of  a  ruthless  and  all-conquering 
might.  It  recalls  the  figure  of  ''  the 
notable  horn "  in  the  Book  of  Daniel. 
Moved  with  choler  against  the  tv^o-horned 
ram  of  Media  and  Persia,  the  rough  goat 
ran  upon  him  in  the  fury  of  his  power,  cast 
him  down  to  the  ground,  and  trampled  upon 
him  ;  and  there  was  none  that  could  deliver 
the  ram  out  of  his  hand  (viii.  7,  20).  So  it 
fared  with  Israel  in  the  day  of  her  calamity. 
The  world-powers  had  smitten  and  torn 
her,  as  the  first  King  of  Greece  would  yet 
smite  Persia.  Like  enraged  animals  they 
had  lifted  up  the  horn  against  Judah  and 
Israel,  and  scattered  the  heritage  of  Jehovah 
among  the  heathen. 

Judah  and  Israel !  Does  this  mean  that 
the  old  discord  between  the  two  kingdoms 
has  at  last  been  forgotten  in  the  stress  of  a 
common  calamity  ?  Is  this  an  indication 
that  men  learn  in  suffering,  or  in  battle, 
the  value  of  a  mutual  comradeship  in  the 

40 


The  Dishorning    of  the  Nations 

attainment  of  a  common  ideal  ?  If  so,  one 
reason  at  least  for  the  hard  discipline  of 
the  Exile  is  not  hard  to  discover.  Jehovah 
had  cast  His  sinful  nation  into  the  furnace 
of  affliction  that  the  pure  metal  of  God's 
people  might  be  separated  from  the  dross. 
He  chastised  in  order  to  purify  :  he  fought 
that  he  might  teach.  The  Babylonian 
Exile  v^as  not  a  colossal  blunder.  The 
unifying  of  their  national  ideal  was  well 
worth  the  discipline  involved.  They 
had  come  out  of  the  furnace  purified  as 
silver  and  temperd  as  steel.  Jehovah  had 
made  even  the  wrath  of  their  enemies  to 
work  out  their  national  good. 

2.  The  Four  Smiths. 

"  And  the  Lord  shewed  me  four  smiths. 
Then  said  I,  What  come  these  to  do  ?  And 
he  spake,  saying,  These  are  the  horns  which 
scattered  Judah  and  have  broken  Israel 
(LXX),  so  that  no  man  did  lift  up  his 
head  :  but  these  are  come  to  terrify  them, 
to  cast  down  the  horns  of  the  nations,  which 

41 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

lifted   up   their  horn   against   the  land   of 
Jehovah  (LXX)  to  scatter  it." 

The  symbolism  of  the  nations'  sin  is  here 
followed  by  the  delineation  of  their  punish- 
ment.    Their  personality  is  not  emphasised. 
It  is  the  character  of  their  work,  and    not 
the  nature  of  their  persons,   that   absorbs 
the   interest   of  the  prophet.     What  come 
these  to  do  ?  is  the  inquiry  that  springs  to 
his  lips ;  for,  unlike  the  mounted  scouts  of 
Jehovah  who    appealed  to  him  as   angelic 
beings,  the  four  smiths   might  be  nothing 
more  than  human  instruments,  inaugurating 
and  developing  their  plans  along  the  line 
of  history.     The  question  of  their  identity 
is  not  pressed.      We  may  think  of  them  as 
four    world-powers,  like    Nebuchadnezzar, 
who    shattered    the    tyranny    of    Assyria, 
Cyrus,  who  broke  down  the  pride  of  Babylon, 
Cambysis,  who  finally  subdued  the  power 
of  Egypt,  and  Alexander  the  Great,  who  in 
turn  levelled  the  might  of  Media  and  Persia. 
Or  we  may  limit  the  figure  to  the  leaders  of 
the  people  in  Jerusalem — to  Zerubbabel  and 
Joshua,  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  who  carried  on 

42 


The   Dishorning   of  the   Nations 

the  work  of  consolidation  and  restoration 
in  spite  of  the  half-caste  people  of  the  land, 
who  by  intrigue  and  open  resistance  sought 
to  hinder  and  interrupt  the  work.  Or,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  four  horns  were 
referred,  not  to  any  special  class  of  opponents, 
but  to  all  the  enemies  of  Israel  without 
exception,  the  four  smiths  also  may  be 
interpreted  in  the  same  general  way.  We 
may  think  of  them  as  the  provision  made 
by  Israel's  God  for  bringing  to  nought  the 
world-wide  oppression  of  His  people,  and  for 
cowing  and  casting  down  all  the  adversaries 
and  persecutors  of  His  Church.  In  this 
wider  view  of  the  prophet's  imagery,  the 
identity  of  the  agents  may  be  allowed  to 
pass  into  the  background,  and  the  whole 
attention  of  Zechariah  and  his  hearers  be 
concentrated  on  the  character  of  the  work. 

The  work,  as  already  indicated,  was  the 
dishorning  of  the  nations.  This  was  Pressel's 
idea,  as  cited  by  C.  H.  H.  Wright.  A  farmer 
suggested  to  him  the  true  reason  why 
smiths  were  specially  alluded  to.  "When 
cattle,"  said  the  farmer,  "  are  driven  out  to 

43 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

pasture,  tlie  points  of  the  oxen's  horns  are 
often  cut  off,  in  order  that  they  may  be  no 
longer  dangerous,  and  as  one  is  obliged  for 
this  purpose  to  use  a  particularly  sharp 
instrument,  he  has  generally  recourse  to  a 
smith."  In  other  language,  the  intention 
of  Jehovah  was  chastisement,  not  destruc- 
tion. Even  in  the  case  of  the  great  world- 
powers,  he  would  humble,  not  annihilate, 
their  pride.  He  would  cast  down  the  horn 
of  their  resentment,  or  withdraw  the  fangs 
of  their  envenomed  opposition,  that  finding 
their  place  as  innocuous  and  serviceable 
members  of  the  community,  they  might 
realise  the  greatness  of  their  national  ideals 
in  the  common  life  of  humanity. 

Alas,  that  the  wisdom  and  mercy  of  the 
divine  intention  should  have  been  so  fre- 
quently frustrated  by  human  obduracy ! 
Was  it  not  so  in  the  tragic  fate  of  the 
heathen  nations  ?  Not  only  did  they  ex- 
ceed their  commission  in  the  matter  of 
helping  forward  the  affliction  of  Israel,  but 
even  now,  when  they  were  to  be  included 
in  a  course  of  divine  discipline— a  discipline 

44 


The  Dishorning  of  the    Nations 

which  was  designed  to  secure  their  highest 
national  welfare,  they  refused  to  yield 
themselves  to  the  hand  of  the  divine  Potter, 
and  instead  of  rising  to  their  true  destiny 
in  the  approved  comity  of  nations,  they 
went  down  to  future  generations  as  a  heap 
of  shapeless  mounds.  And  what  of  Israel  ? 
Did  she  bemoan  the  frustration  of  the 
divine  ideal  ?  Did  she  bewail  the  fact  that 
instead  of  dishorning,  destruction  was  to  be 
the  fate  of  the  world-powers  ?  Alas,  for 
the  answer !  Stung  by  the  memory  of  her 
age-long  oppression,  she  was  only  too  ready 
to  catch  up  the  strains  of  her  much-maligned 
imprecatory  paslms,  and  sing — 

O  daughter  of  Babylon,  that  art  to  be  destroyed : 

Happy  shall  he  be,  that  rewardeth  thee 

As  thou  hast  served  us. 

Happy    shall    he    be,    that   taketh    and    dasheth    thy 

little  ones 
Against  the  rock.  — Ps.  cxxxvii.  8-9. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  is  not  to  be 
regarded  as  the  Judaism  that  hates  humanity. 
It  is  only  the  natural  reaction  from  the 
inhuman    oppression    to    which    they    had 

45 


The  Man  among  the   Myrtles 

been  too  often  subjected.  We  think  of 
that  long  tale  of  horror  which  the  world- 
conquerors  had  meted  out  to  the  vanished 
nation,  and  we  do  not  marvel  if  the  tossed 
and  mangled  community  came  to  desire, 
not  the  dishorning  of  the  oppressors,  but 
the  utter  destruction  of  the  bulls. 

Still,  the  mere  fact  that  the  nations  had 
exceeded  the  divine  intention  in  the  chastise- 
ment of  Israel  was  no  good  reason  why 
Israel,  in  turn,  should  go  beyond  the  same 
divine  plan  in  the  subduing  and  humbling 
of  the  nations.  The  infinite  mercy  of 
Jehovah  was  sufficient  for  both.  However 
imperfectly  they  realised  it,  it  was  true 
then,  and  it  is  true  now,  that 

There's  a  wideness  in  God's  mercy 
Like  the  wideness  of  the  sea  ; 
There's  a  kindness  in  His  justice 
Which  is  more  than  liberty. 

But  we  make  His  love  too  narrow 
By  false  limits  of  our  own ; 
And  we  magnify  His  strictness 
With  a  zeal  He  will  not  own. 

His    design,    both    for    Israel    and    the 

46 


The  Dishorning  of  the   Nations 

nations,  was  altogether  different.  He  was 
painting  on  the  shifting  screen  of  the 
future  a  golden  age  when  all  the  ends  of 
the  earth  would  be  one.  He  was  working 
for  the  time,  when  not  only  one  ancient 
discord  would  be  left  behind,  but  all  dis- 
cords ;  when  not  only  Judah  and  Israel 
would  dwell  together  in  amity,  but  when, 
in  the  glowing  idealism  of  Isaiah,  Israel 
herself  would  be  "  a  third  with  Egypt  and 
Assyria,  a  blessing  in  the  midst  of  the 
earth  "  (Isa.  xix.  24).  But  how  was  this 
ideal  to  be  reached  ?  Only  in  one  way — 
not  by  destruction,  but  by  dishorning ;  not 
by  vindictive  hate,  but  by  reforming  and 
forgiving  love.  Israel  and  all  the  nations 
must  yield  themselves  as  clay  to  the  hand 
of  the  Master  Potter,  that  He  might  fashion, 
beautify,  and  keep  them,  as  vessels  meet  for 
His  use. 

Sad  result !  if  through  any  intractability 
in  the  clay,  the  vessel  should  be  marred  in 
the  Potter's  hand.  It  was  so  by  the  rivers 
of  Babylon,  and  among  the  ruins  of  Jeru- 
salem.    Shall  it  be  so  with  us  ? 

47 


IV 

THE  MAN  WITH  THE  MEASURING  LINE 

Chapter  II.  5-17 
(In  Hebrew) 


THE  MAN  WITH  THE  MEASURING 

LINE 

The  dishorning  of  the  nations  is  now 
followed  hy  the  surveying  and  measuring 
of  Jerusalem.  For  despite  the  ruined 
condition  of  her  walls  she  was  still  the 
inheritance  or  portion  of  Jehovah  in 
the  holy  land.  In  the  expressive  language 
of  ver.  12  (Heb.)  she  was  regarded  as 
"  the  apple  of  His  eye."  What  is  seen 
in  the  eye  of  a  man  is  not  the  image 
of  the  man  himself,  but  the  habhah,  the 
tiny  reflected  image  of  the  observer.  And, 
in  like  manner,  what  was  seen  in  Israel 
was  not  the  nation  as  such,  but  the 
people  of  Jehovah  in  its  ideality,  bearing 
the  image  or  far-off  reflection  of  the 
Divine ;  and  therefore  worthy  of  being 
restored,  beautified,  and  kept  as  the  apple, 
the  pupil,  the  little  man  (cf.  Deut.  xxxii.  lo) 

SI 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

of  his  eye.^  Obviously  the  humbling  of  the 
great  world-powers  was  not  sufficient  :  there 
must  be  the  depiction  of  positive  blessing 
for  the  sorely-distressed  people  of  Jehovah. 

I.  The  Present  Necessity. 

To  say,  with  Orelli,  that  "  there  is  not 
the  slightest  suggestion  here  of  the  re- 
building of  the  still  ruined  walls  "  is,  to 
the  present  writer,  in  the  highest  degree 
unwarrantable.  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  higher  meanings  suggested  by  the  work 
of  restoration,  it  was  simply  indispensable 
to  the  struggling  Jewish  community  that 
the  rebuilding  of  the  city-walls  should  be 
faced  forthwith.  To  be  inhabited  as  villages 
without  walls  (ver.  8)  would  be,  for  a  city 
like  Jerusalem,  not  strength  but  weakness, 
not  a  blessing  but  a  peril ;  for  so  long  as 
the  Jewish  capital  remained  unwalled,  she 
was  in  perpetual  fear  of  molestation,  and 
openly  exposed  to  the  taunts  and  hostility 
of  her  continually  active  foes.  Hence  when 
Nehemiah  finally  completed  the  walls  seventy- 

^  Cf.  Sermons  in  Syntax,  p.  70, 
52 


The  Man  with   Measuring  Line 

three  years  later,  that  redoubtable  patriot, 
instead  of  regarding  the  building  of  the  walls 
as  outwith  the  scope  of  the  divine  intenion, 
added,  "  all  the  heathen  that  were  about 
us  feared,  and  were  much  cast  down  in  their 
own  eyes ;  for  they  perceived  that  this  work 
zoas  wrought  of  our  God  "  (Neh.  vi.  i6). 

This,  indeed,  was  Jerusalem's  urgent 
necessity,  and  all  the  time  that  Zechariah 
was  visiting  the  myrtle-grove  he  was  fully 
cognisant  of  the  fact.  True,  the  building 
of  the  temple  had  to  be  undertaken  first, 
for  they  had  returned  to  Jerusalem  as 
essentially  a  religious  community :  but 
the  work  of  restoration  could  not  rest  there  ; 
it  must  go  on,  as  occasion  offered,  until  the 
whole  city  was  fortified.  And  as  the  days 
came  and  passed  the  prophet  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  his  earnest  call  to 
repentance  beginning  to  bear  fruit.  The 
theodolite  and  chain  were  at  last  brought 
out  into  the  open  ;  and  time  and  again, 
as  he  went  to  the  grove  of  myrtles,  he 
beheld  the  surveyors  busily  at  work,  taking 
measurements    for    the   laying   out    of    the 

S3 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

streets  and  walls  and  ascertaining  what 
could  be  made  of  the  ruins.  This  supplied 
him  with  the  necessary  imagery  for  his 
third  midnight  vision.  "  I  lifted  up  mine 
eyes,  and  saw,  and  behold  a  man  with  a 
measuring  line  in  his  hand.  Then  said  I, 
Whither  goest  thou  ?  And  he  said  unto 
me.  To  measure  Jerusalem,  to  see  what  is 
the  breadth  thereof  and  what  is  the  length 
thereof.  And  behold  the  interpreting  angel 
was  standing  hy  (cf.  LXX) — as  if  in  doubt 
regarding  the  significance  of  this  action — 
but  another  angel  (the  angel  of  the  Lord) 
went  forth  to  meet  him,  and  said,  Run, 
speak  to  this  young  man,  who  so  well  repre- 
sents the  efforts  of  the  youthful  community, 
and  tell  him,  not  indeed  to  desist  from  his 
undertaking,  but  to  realise  the  higher  mean- 
ings suggested  by  the  work  of  restoration." 

Why  commentators  in  general  should 
have  concluded  that  the  angel  was  sent  to 
prevent  the  young  surveyor  from  carrying 
out  his  intention,  we  cannot  profess  to 
explain.  There  is  nothing  in  the  language 
itself  to  favour  this  interpretation  ;    and  in 

54 


The  Man  with  Measuring  Line 

view  of  Jerusalem's  necessitous  condition, 
surrounded  as  she  was  by  powerful  and 
unscrupulous  foes,  the  idea,  as  thus  ex- 
pressed, is  quite  inadmissible.  The  angel 
was  sent  forth,  not  to  prevent  the  young 
man  from  accomplishing  his  task,  but  to 
remind  him  of  the  greatness  of  Israel's 
spiritual  ideal — not  to  tell  him  that  his 
present  project  was  altogether  futile,  but 
to  show  him  that  any  reconstruction  engaged 
in  at  that  time  was  only  the  divine  fore- 
shadowing of  a  far  more  glorious  destiny. 
The  surveyor's  task,  indeed,  could  not 
thus  be  set  aside.  It  was  the  one  pressing 
necessity  of  the  hour  ;  and  no  dreams  of  a 
possible  increase  of  population  in  the  future 
could  justify  them  in  neglecting  it.  Every 
generation,  it  is  true,  has  a  clear  duty  towards 
the  future,  even  though,  as  some  retort, 
posterity  has  done  nothing  for  us.  Still, 
the  present  duty  must  always  have  the  prior 
consideration  ;  and  to  suggest  that  because 
of  some  problematic  increase  of  population, 
municipal  corporations,  in  any  age,  should 
provide  not  simply  for  the  present  necessity 

55 


The  Man  among  the   Myrtles 

but  for  future  possibilities  as  well,  is  nothing 
better  than  the  proverbial  half-truth  which 
is  never  independent  of  some  necessary 
qualification.  Former  generations  might 
have  produced  more  ideal  systems,  and  made 
fuller  provision  for  later  developments,  both 
in  sanitation,  education  and  theology ;  but 
in  so  doing,  what  would  have  been  left  for 
us  to  perfect,  or  to  bring  into  closer  adjust- 
ment with  modern  requirements  ?  Would 
not  earlier  idealism  have  necessarily  implied 
diminished  opportunity  in  the  present  ? 
It  may  be  the  duty  of  the  State  to-day,  let 
us  say,  to  begin  a  scheme  of  afforestation  for 
the  sake  of  posterity ;  but  that  would  not 
mean  the  mapping  out  of  the  entire  area 
during  the  first  year.  If  it  be  a  national 
concern  at  all,  it  must  be  approached  in  a 
truly  scientific  spirit — not  by  mapping  out 
the  entire  area  at  the  outset,  but  by  doing 
first  things  first,  inserting  the  thin  end  of 
the  wedge  in  a  limited  and  even  local 
experiment,  and  then  allowing  the  project 
to  expand  and  ripen  with  the  growing 
demands  and  capabilities  of  the  nation. 

56 


The  Man  with  Measuring  Line 

The  situation  at  the  founding  of  the  second 
temple  was  precisely  similar.  Israel  could 
well  afford  to  peer  into  the  future  and  think 
on  the  greatness  of  her  coming  destiny ;  but 
the  present  duty  of  the  returned  exiles  was 
clear  and  urgent.  It  was  not  to  arrest  the 
youthful  surveyor  in  his  efforts  to  map  out 
the  city  walls,  but  to  begin  at  once  the  work 
of  restoration,  that  having  secured  a  firm 
footing  in  the  land  of  their  fathers,  they 
might  be  ready  for  all  eventualities. 

2.  The  Future  Ideal. 

Zechariah,  like  a  wise  teacher,  was  in- 
tensely interested  in  the  plans  of  the 
builders ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  tried 
to  fire  their  imagination  by  emphasising 
the  greatness  of  Israel's  calling.  As  the 
people  of  Jehovah,  she  was  destined  to 
hand  on  to  future  ages,  not  a  political 
economy,  but  a  religion.  She  was  sum- 
moned to  hold  aloft  the  torch  of  revelation, 
and  thus  fulfil  the  part  of  a  great  missionary 
people.  Her  ideal  was  not  political,  but  re- 
ligious. She  was  not  an  empire,  but  a  Church. 

57 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

This  meant  {a)  that  in  this  ideal  city 
there  was  no  need  of  walls  ;  for,  like  every- 
thing spiritual,  it  was  destined  to  be  world- 
wide. It  would  overflow,  not  simply  into 
the  adjoining  villages  and  annex  the 
neighbouring  towns,  but  sweep  out  in  ever- 
increasing  circles  into  other  lands,  and 
occupy  and  rule  the  entire  heathen  world. 
Nevertheless  in  this  connection  also  the 
duty  of  Israel  was  to  begin  at  the  centre. 
Israel  herself  must  first  be  blessed,  before 
she  could  hope  to  become  a  blessing  to  all 
the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  Jews  at  home 
and  their  brethren  in  other  countries  must 
flock  to  the  standard  of  Jehovah  on  Mount 
Zion,  else  never  a  heathen  nation  would 
be  won  for  His  service  or  help  to  swell 
the  ranks  of  His  loyal-hearted  worshippers. 
This  is  the  meaning  of  verses  lo-ii  (Heb.) — 
"  Ho,  Ho,  flee  from  the  land  of  the  north 
{i,e,  Chaldea),  saith  the  Lord  :  for  I  will 
gather  you  (LXX)  from  the  four  winds  of 
heaven,  saith  the  Lord.  Ho  ye,  escape  to 
Zion  (LXX),  ye  who  dwell  with  the 
daughter    of    Babylon."    Let   no    one   say 

58 


The  Man  with  Measuring  Line 

that  those  who  were  still  in  Babylon  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  this  appeal.  When  occasion 
offered  they  willingly  sacrificed  themselves 
for  the  prosperity  and  peace  of  Jerusalem. 
Not  only  did  they  contribute  largely  of 
their  wealth  when  the  first  caravan  set 
out  under  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua ;  but 
afterwards  they  furnished  both  the  men 
and  means  for  bringing  the  work  in  Jerusa- 
lem to  a  successful  completion.  Many  of 
them  were  no  more  unmindful  of  the  home 
and  faith  of  their  fathers  than  those  who 
first  crossed  the  desert  in  537  e.g. 

The  urgency  of  the  appeal,  however,  was 
peculiarly  opportune  at  this  juncture.  Alike 
in  the  condition  of  unrest  which  prevailed 
in  Babylon,  and  in  the  greatness  of  their 
own  spiritual  ideal,  the  Babylonian  Jews 
had  ample  reason  for  reconsidering  their 
position,  and  responding,  before  it  was 
too  late,  to  the  urgent  call  of  the  homeland. 
In  the  opening  years  of  Darius,  for  instance, 
Babylon  herself  was  in  imminent  danger. 
Having  made  preparations  for  a  lengthened 
siege  within  the  city  walls,  she  had  openly 

59 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

defied  the  Persian  King,  and  hoped  to 
wrest  from  his  powerful  grasp  the  coveted 
prize  of  her  independence.  But  what  could 
withstand  the  onset  of  the  Persian  troops ! 
Speedily  did  Darius  prove  himself  equal 
to  every  emergency  :  and  Babylon,  which 
had  been  very  leniently  dealt  with  at  the 
hands  of  Cyrus,  was  made  to  bite  the  dust 
in  the  fury  of  his  conquest.  In  the  time 
of  Zechariah,  the  atmosphere  was  charged 
with  the  electrical  fluid  of  this  coming 
storm ;  and  therefore  the  summons  ad- 
dressed to  the  captive  Jews  that  they 
should  return  to  their  own  land,  was  peculi- 
arly appropriate  in  the  circumstances — 
"  Ho,  ye  that  dwell  with  the  daughter  of 
Babylon,  escape  ye  to  Zion." 

For  (b)  their  true  national  ideal  was 
also  sfirituaL  If  the  critical  unrest  of  the 
times  was  one  urgent  reason  why  they 
should  return  to  their  own  land,  surely 
the  higher  claim  of  their  moral  and  spiritual 
faith  was  indisputably  another.  Not  in 
the  land  of  the  north,  where  they  had 
been   crushed   by   the   spoiler,   but   in   the 

60 


The  Man  with  Measuring  Line 

land  and  sanctuary  of  their  fathers'  God, 
would  they  find  the  opportunity  and 
necessary  fulcrum  for  the  attainment  of 
their  world-wide  ideal.  To  most  of  them, 
indeed,  the  land  of  their  captivity  was  also 
the  land  of  their  nativity  :  but  what  was 
life-long  association  and  personal  ease  to 
the  unparalleled  grandeur  of  their  national 
faith  ?  What  was  gain  or  social  distinction 
to  the  insistent  call  of  their  God-appointed 
destiny  ?  This  was  the  voice  of  the  nation 
as  against  the  individual  life.  This  was 
the  appeal  of  the  centuries  as  against  the 
hours.  Ho,  ye  inhabitants  of  the  north, 
haste  ye  to  Zion  !  Be  an  ensign,  a  lever, 
a  divine  signet,  in  the  holy  land. 

Besides,  was  not  Jehovah  Himself  the 
strongest  pledge  that  their  spiritual  cause 
would  ultimately  triumph  .?  Unlike  the 
walls  of  Babylon  which  succumbed  before 
Darius,  or  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  which 
would  yet  be  demolished  before  the  im- 
perious might  of  Rome,  the  ramparts  of 
the  spiritual  Zion  could  neither  be  scaled 
nor  stormed ;    for    Jehovah,   the  Lord  of 

6i 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

Hosts,  was  as  a  wall  of  fire  round  about 
His  people  (cf.  ver.  9).  It  is  a  most  striking 
figure.  God  will  not  only  make  a  hedge 
about  them  (Job  i.  10),  or  walls  and  bul- 
warks which  may  be  battered  down  (Isa. 
xxvi.  i),  or  high  mountains,  which  may 
be  got  over  (Ps.  cxxv.  2)  :  he  will  be  a  wall 
of  fire  around  them,  which  can  neither  be 
broken  down  nor  undermined,  but  which 
will  repel  and  overwhelm  the  assailants. 
Not  more  safe  were  the  Bedouin  shepherds 
when  encircled  by  a  ring  of  fires  to  scare  off 
the  beasts  of  prey  by  night,  than  were 
the  people  of  Jehovah  safe,  even  in  the 
midst  of  their  enemies,  when  surrounded 
and  safeguarded  by  the  holy  fire  of  His  love. 
Hence  in  ver.  14  they  are  called  upon 
to  welcome  His  coming  with  a  perfect  jubilee 
of  praise — "  Sing  and  rejoice,  O  daughter  of 
Zion  ;  for  lo,  I  come,  and  I  will  dwell  in  the 
midst  of  thee,  saith  the  Lord."  Cf.  similar 
invocations  in  Zeph.  iii.  14-15,  Isa.  xii.  6 
and  liv.  i.  The  source  of  joy  is  sufficiently 
instructive  :  it  is  a  fresh  coming  of  Jehovah, 
Israel's  God.     Just  as  the  early  Christians 

62 


The  Man  with  Measuring  Line 

were  inspired  to  nobler  service  by  the 
promise  of  the  Second  Advent,  so  the  Jews, 
at  the  founding  of  the  second  temple,  are 
encouraged  to  rally  round  Zion  by  the 
hope  of  a  speedy  advent  of  Jehovah.  Nay, 
the  promised  parousia  was  already  begun. 
Jehovah  had  even  then  set  forth  from  His 
heavenly  abode  (ver.  17),  and  a  dreaded 
manifestation  in  judgment  was  about  to 
break  forth  upon  the  world. 

And  what,  under  a  concluding  para- 
graph, was  the  real  significance  of  this 
unveiling  both  for  Israel  and  the  nations  .? 
The  answer  is,  that  the  Weltkrisis  here 
depicted  was  to  be  a  union  of  judgment 
and  mercy.  There  was,  at  once,  the  might 
that  crushes  and  appals,  and  the  mercy 
that  rescues  and  redeems.  For  when 
Jehovah  appears  in  judgment.  He  but 
smites  that  He  may  save,  and  chastises  that 
He  may  teach.  In  fine,  the  day  of  the  Lord 
is  to  be  a  dishorning  of  the  nations,  not  a 
destruction  :  it  is  chastisement,  the  proof 
of  love.  Consequently,  while  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  exclaims  in  ver.  13,  "Behold, 

63 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

I  will  shake  mine  hand  over  them,  and  they 
shall  be  a  spoil  to  those  that  served  them," 
he    immediately    adds    in    ver.    15,    "  And 
many  nations  shall  join  themselves  to  the 
Lord  in  that  day,  and  shall  be  his  people 
(LXX)  .  .  .  and    thou    shalt     know    that 
the  Lord  of   Hosts  hath  sent  me."     The 
coming  of  the  Lord,  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  jubilation  of  God's  people  on  the  other, 
are  to  have   this   as   their  inspiring  result. 
The  dispersed  of  Israel  among  the  nations, 
and     the    converted    nations     themselves, 
are  to  come  up  as  one  people  to  worship 
the  Lord  in  Zion  ;    and  then  the  ideal  of 
Israel,    the    covenant    people    of   Jehovah, 
will  be  most  gloriously  realised.     The  Lord 
Himself  will  inherit  Judah  as  His  portion 
in  the  holy  land  (ver.   16),  and  Jerusalem 
once  more  will  be  chosen  and  kept  as  the 
apple  of  His  eye.     No  more  inspiring  pros- 
pect could  fill  the  mind  or  fire  the  imagina- 
tion of  any  people.     The  building  of  the 
walls  will  at  last  have  become  an  anachronism. 
"  Be    silent,    all    flesh,    before    the    Lord ; 
for  He  is  wakei  up  out  of  His  holy  hahitationy 

64 


V 

THE  PURIFICATION  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Chapter  III 


B 


THE  PURIFICATION  OF  THE 
CHURCH 

When  the  first  caravan  set  out  in  537  B.C. 
the  recognised  leaders  of  the  people  were 
Zerubbabel  and  Joshua  (Hag.  i.  i).  The 
secular  and  ecclesiastical  rulers  are  found 
side  by  side  ;  and  yet,  as  Ibn  Ezra  so  aptly 
observes,  the  prince  is  named  before  the 
priest,  the  son  of  Shealtiel  has  a  distinct 
precedence  over  the  son  of  Jehozadak.  It 
may  have  been  the  design  of  their  age- 
long discipline  that  they  should  return 
to  their  own  land  as  a  religious  community ; 
but  the  figment  of  a  political  ideal  was 
not  easily  eradicated.  It  possessed  so 
powerful  an  attraction  for  the  popular 
imagination,  that  while  the  exiles  came 
back  greatly  reduced  in  numbers  and 
resources,   they  continued   to   cherish   the 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

dream  of  a  future  restoration  of  the  king- 
dom, and  rejoiced  in  the    thought    that    a 
scion  of  the  house  of  David  was  still  their 
leader  and  champion.     But  what  of  the  pro- 
phet Zechariah  ?     Was  he,  too,  swayed  and 
fascinated  by  this  illusive  will-o'-the-wisp  ? 
Wellhausen    thinks    that    he   was.     "  It    is 
probable,"     he     conjectures,     "  that     the 
prophet  designs  to  hint  in  a  guarded  way 
that  Zerubbabel,  who  in  all  other  places 
is  mentioned  along  with  Joshua,  is  on  the 
point  of  ascending  the  throne  of  his  ancestor 
David."  ^    The  answer  to  this  is  obvious. 
We  have   the   clear   teaching   of  chap.   ii. 
If    Zechariah    taught    them    anything   by 
means    of    his    third    midnight    vision,    he 
taught  them  the  necessity  of  revising  and 
reversing    the    order    of    this    commonly- 
accepted    estimate.     Israel    must    learn    to 
read  not  "  prince  and  priest,"  but  "  priest 
and  prince."     For,   as  Wellhausen  himself 
has  pointed  out  in  his  article  "  Pentateuch  " 
in   the   Encyclopaedia   Britannica,  the  high 
priest  in  the  second  temple  was  not  only 

^  Biblkaf  col.  5392. 

68 


The  Purification  of  the  Church 

the  head  of  the  natural  worship,  he  was 
"  the  head  of  the  entire  national  life." 
And  the  spirituality  of  this  ideal  was  not 
to  be  imperilled  by  any  unreasoned  action 
in  the  present.  There  was  the  risk  of 
possible  complications  with  Persia,  through 
the  unguarded  expression  of  their  national 
hopes.  There  was  also  the  danger  of 
depreciating  and  discrediting  their  spiritual 
functions,  because  of  undue  prominence 
given  to  the  secular.  And,  finally,  there 
was  the  moral  certainty  of  still  further 
estranging  their  fathers'  God,  and  the 
subsequent  difHculty  of  appeasing  or 
placating  His  favour.  Surely  all  this  en- 
forced the  wisdom  of  learning  to  put  first 
things  first,  and  of  placing  well  in  the  fore- 
ground, not  their  political,  but  their 
religious  ideal  as  the  covenant  people  of 
Jehovah.  It  is  in  this  order,  at  least, 
that  the  prophet  proceeds  now  to  deal  with 
their  present  spiritual  perplexities.  Before 
he  comes  to  Zerubbabel,  and  treats  of 
their  feebleness  as  a  community  (chap,  iv.), 
he  describes  the  condition  of  the  priesthood 

69 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

(chap,   iii.),  and  their  admitted  sinfulness 
as  a  Church. 

I.  Rescued  as  a  Brand. 

"  And  he  shewed  me  Joshua  the  high 
priest  standing  before  the  angel  of  the 
Lord,  and  Satan  standing  at  his  right  hand 
to  be  his  adversary.  And  the  angel  of  the 
Lord  (so  Kittel)  said  unto  Satan,  The 
Lord  rebuke  thee,  O  Satan  ;  yea,  the  Lord, 
that  is  choosing  (participle)  Jerusalem,  rebuke 
thee  ;  is  not  this  a  brand  plucked  out  of 
the  fire  ?  "  (verses  1-2). 

In  these  verses  we  have  the  prophetic 
delineation  of  the  covenant  people  them- 
selves. For  in  the  words  of  Kliefoth  (as 
quoted  by  Keil),  "  the  priesthood  of  Israel 
was  concentrated  in  the  high  priest  just  as 
the  character  of  Israel  as  the  holy  nation 
was  concentrated  in  the  priesthood."  It 
is  not  Joshua,  as  such,  who  is  impeached 
before  the  divine  tribunal,  but  Joshua  as 
the  ecclesiastical  representative  of  a  sinful 
and  guilt-laden  people.  And  the  people 
themselves  felt  this.     In  the  last  resort,  the 

70 


The  Purification  of  the   Church 

charges  brought  by  Satan  against  the  sacer- 
dotal ruler  are  but  the  pictorial  repre- 
sentation of  Israel's  own  sense  of  sin. 
And  psychologically  the  rise  of  this  moral 
consciousness  is  not  difficult  to  follow.  It 
began  with  the  soul-subduing  vision  of 
Israel's  spiritual  destiny.  The  very  im- 
pressiveness  of  the  picture,  sketched  by 
Zechariah  in  the  previous  chapter,  has 
filled  them  with  the  guilty  fear  of  a  possible 
divine  estrangement.  The  sense  of  demerit 
is  always  proportionate  to  the  consciousness 
of  blessing  despised.  And  since  they  have 
been  led  for  a  moment  to  behold  the 
heights  to  which  they  had  been  summoned 
to  rise,  they  have  been  led  by  the  same 
impulse  to  peer  into  the  depths  to  which 
they  had  allowed  themselves  to  sink.  Alas, 
neither  they  nor  their  priests  had  been 
worthy  of  the  greatness  of  their  ideal. 
They  had  violated  the  law  and  profaned  the 
sanctuary  of  their  God  (cf.  Ezek.  xxii.  26)  ; 
and  who  could  wonder,  if  on  the  threshold 
of  His  restored  temple,  the  unworthy  and 
guilt-laden  community  should  be  rejected  ? 

71 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

This  was  a  fear,  indeed,  which  could  not  be 
suppressed.  It  forced  its  way  upwards  to 
the  ear  and  bar  of  the  Eternal ;  and  finding 
there  a  suitable  expression  in  the  impeach- 
ment of  the  great  accuser,  it  demanded  with 
all  the  sophistry  of  a  malignant  imputation 
the  total  rejection  of  the  people.  Because 
of  Israel's  long-continued  and  ineradicable 
sin,  let  the  whole  nation  be  treated  as  a  brand 
fit  for  the  fire. 

But  what  is  the  reply  of  the  angel  of  the 
Lord  ?  It  is  at  once  a  complete  refutation 
of  the  vindictive  charge,  and  a  stern  silencing 
of  the  one  who  brought  it.  "  The  Lord 
Himself  rebuke  thee,  O  Satan  (note  the 
emphatic  Paseq  introduced  by  Baer  after 
the  term  *  Jehovah  ')  ;  yea,  the  Lord  who 
is  choosing  (the  present  participle  indicating 
the  duration  or  continuity  of  the  divine 
action)  Jerusalem,  rebuke  thee ;  is  not 
this  ^  a  brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire  ?  " 
The  same  figure  is  used  in  Amos  iv.   ii, 

1  Wickes  regards  the  double  Mer'kha  on  this  word  as 
«*an  irregular  and  unmeaning  accentuation,"  but  see  the 
author's  remarks  on  Hab.  i.  3  in  Sermons  in  Accents ^  p.  55. 

72 


The  Purification  of  the   Church 

where  with  a  distinct  allusion  to  the  terrible 
throes  of  earthquake,  the  grandees  of 
Samaria  are  reminded  that  the  refugees 
from  that  appalling  disaster  were  as  a  fire- 
brand plucked  out  of  the  burning.  In 
the  present  instance,  it  is  the  exile  and  not 
the  earthquake  which  is  at  the  basis  of  the 
prophet's  description.  On  the  plains  of 
Babylonia  the  Jewish  captives  had  been 
cast  as  into  a  burning  fiery  furnace,  and 
there  the  malicious  accuser  of  the  brethren 
would  fain  have  left  them  as  they  were. 
But  Jehovah  who  had  chosen  Israel  at  the 
first,  and  who  had  again  returned  in  mercy 
to  the  object  of  His  choice,  realised  the 
value  of  the  half-burnt  piece  of  wood,  and 
graciously  snatched  it  out  of  the  fire.  And 
on  the  basis  of  this  redemptive  and  com- 
pleted act,  how  could  anyone  listen  to  the 
vindictive  and  reckless  plea  that  the  scorched 
and  blackened  bit  of  timber  should  again 
be  consigned  to  the  flames  ?  No,  "  the 
gifts  and  the  calling  of  God  are  without 
repentance."  Israel,  the  sinful  nation,  had 
been  forgiven   much ;    and  this,   the  first 

73 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

step  in  her  full  restoration,  could  never  be 
revoked.  If  a  restored  people,  like  a  renewed 
soul,  be  rescued  by  a  miracle  of  grace,  it 
shall  never  be  left  as  the  prey  of  the  great 
accuser.  Let  this  be  written  for  the  com- 
fort of  the  Church  in  all  ages  :  the  rescued 
one  is  "  a  brand  flucked  out  of  the  fire." 

2.  Installed  as  a  Priest. 

"  And  Joshua  was  clothed  with  filthy 
garments,  and  was  standing  before  the  angel 
of  the  Lord.  And  the  angel  said  unto  those 
that  stood  before  him,  Take  the  filthy 
garments  from  off  him — And  unto  him  he 
said  (as  in  a  gracious  undertone).  Behold, 
I  have  caused  thine  iniquity  to  pass  from 
thee — and  clothe  him  with  robes  flowing 
down  to  the  feet,  and  set  a  fair  mitre  upon 
his  head  (omitting  the  verb  '  I  said  '  at  the 
beginning  of  ver.  5,  and  translating  both 
verbs  as  imperatives  with  the  LXX).  So 
they  set  a  fair  mitre  upon  his  head,  and 
clothed  him  with  garments ;  and  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  stood  by." 

This  is  the  second  stage  in  Israel's  re- 

74 


The  Purification  of  the   Church 

storatlon.  Deliverance  from  destruction  is 
now  to  be  followed  by  worship  and  service. 
And  yet  was  even  the  head  of  the  priestly 
nation  worthy  to  appear  before  Jehovah  ? 
No  doubt  they  had  been  delivered  from 
the  Babylonian  captivity,  and  brought  back 
to  their  own  land,  and  to  that  extent  they 
could  justly  confide  in  the  Divine  mercy. 
But  to  draw  near  as  priests  within  the 
sphere  of  the  divine  sanctity  was  another 
and  very  different  matter  !  Were  they  fit 
to  approach  the  altar  of  incense  in  the 
robes  of  glory  and  beauty,  enumerated  in 
Ex.  xxix.  5-6,  or  to  appear  in  the  dress  of 
pure  white  linen  prescribed  for  the  great 
day  of  atonement  (Lev.  xvi.  4)  ?  Little 
marvel  if  the  revived  consciousness  of  the 
people  faltered  at  the  prospect,  or  trembled 
at  the  thought  of  their  unfitness  for  the 
perfect  exercise  of  their  calling.  They  had 
faith,  indeed,  to  be  saved  ;  but  had  they 
faith  also  for  this  spiritual  service  ?  Alas, 
for  the  reality.  Instead  of  the  variegated 
robes  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  they  were 
dressed  in  the  filthy  garments  of  a  nation's 

IS 


The  Man  among  the   Myrtles 

unaccountable  folly.  The  sordidness  of 
their  aims  had  raised  up  an  impassable 
barrier  between  them  and  the  golden  altar. 
They  were  not  fit  to  enter  as  priests  into 
the  holy  place.  Nevertheless,  their  hope 
was  in  Jehovah,  Israel's  God.  In  the  striking 
parenthesis  introduced  into  ver.  4  (accom- 
panied, no  doubt,  by  a  dramatic  change  of 
tone),  the  angel  of  the  Lord  turned  to 
Joshua,  and  said,  "  Behold,  I  have  caused 
thine  iniquity  to  pass  from  thee  "  ;  and 
as  a  symbolical  representation  of  its  removal, 
he  was  to  listen  to  the  angel's  instructions 
to  those  who  were  standing  by.  Addressing 
these  attending  ministers,  he  continued, 
"  Remove  the  squalid  garments  from  off 
him — garments  which  so  vividly  portray 
the  nation's  sense  of  sin  ;  and  clothe  him 
in  those  robes  of  glory  and  beauty,  which 
no  less  fitly  symbolise  his  acceptance  as  a 
priest."  And  the  attending  angels  did  so. 
They  clothed  him  with  garments  down  to 
the  feet,  and  set  a  fair  mitre  upon  his  head, 
and  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  by.  The 
guilty  fears    of   the  people  were  shown  to 

76 


The  Purification  of  the   Church 

be  entirely  groundless ;  and  because  they 
were,  Israel  must  now  listen  to  the  solemn 
teaching  which  follows,  that  the  symbolical 
change  of  raiment  having  been  effected, 
the  sacrament  of  investiture  must  be 
vindicated  and  crowned  by  the  unswerving 
loyalty  of  obedience.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts,  If  thou  wilt  walk  in  my  ways, 
and  if  thou  wilt  keep  my  charge,  then  thou 
also  shalt  judge  my  house,  and  shalt  also 
keep  my  courts  (the  emphatic  pronoun 
*  thou,'  and  the  repeated  adverb  '  also ' 
being  a  sufficient  justification  for  beginning 
the  apodosis  at  this  point),  and  I  will  give 
thee  a  place  of  access  (R.V.)  among  them 
that  stand  by."  Instead  of  being  treated 
as  an  outcast,  Joshua  is  to  be  admitted  freely 
into  the  divine  presence  as  the  people's 
representative.  If  installation  is  followed 
by  obedience,  obedience,  in  turn,  will  be 
rewarded  by  communion  with  the  divine. 
And  in  that  freedom  of  access  among  those 
who  encircled  God's  throne,  the  spiritual 
ideal  of  Israel  would  itself  be  crowned. 
In  fine,  Israel,  the  people  of   Jehovah,  is 

77 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

graciously  accepted  as  a  reinvested  kingdom 
of  priests.  The  filthy  garments  have  been 
laid  aside  for  the  rich  apparel  of  the  King. 

3.  Honoured  as  a  Type. 

"  Hear  now,  O  Joshua,  the  high  priest, 
thou  and  thy  colleagues  that  sit  before  thee 
{i.e.  the  priestly  conclaves) ;  for  they  are 
men  which  are  a  sign  ;  for  behold  I  w^ill 
bring  forth  my  servant  the  Branch  "  (ver.  8). 
Baffled  by  the  failures  of  the  past,  and  grieved 
by  the  sordidness  of  the  present,  does  the 
prophet  suggest  in  these  concluding  verses 
that  for  a  complete  reaffirming  of  Israel's 
faith,  the  leaders  must  have  recourse  to  the 
shifting  screen  of  the  future  ?  If  so,  he 
never  possessed  a  more  suitable  starting- 
point  for  his  Messianic  vaticination  than 
in  the  spiritual  functions,  but  also  the 
confessed  limitations  of  Israel's  reinstated 
priests.  If  they  failed  in  realising  fully 
the  greatness  of  their  spiritual  calling,  they 
could  at  least  point  forward  to  One  w^ho  in 
the  glory  of  Israel's  golden  age  would  give 
a   perfect   realisation   to   that   transcendent 

78 


The  Purification  of  the  Church 

hope.  Hence  the  greatest  thing  that  could 
be  said  of  Joshua  and  his  priestly  colleagues 
was  that  they  were  a  type  or  portent  of 
the  coming  Messianic  fulfilment.  They 
were  not  merely  a  wonderful  illustration  of 
Jehovah's  saving  grace  (A.V.),  or  men  who 
could  interpret  marvels,  like  the  soothsayers 
of  ancient  times  (LXX)  ;  they  were  also 
types  or  symbols  of  the  long-promised 
Messianic  ideal ;  and  therefore  a  definite 
ground  of  assurance  for  Israel's  undying 
hope. 

The  hope  itself  is  vividly  depicted  in 
verses  8^-9.  It  is  at  once  a  living  shoot  that 
springs  up  out  of  obscurity  into  wide- 
spreading  luxuriance ;  and  an  equally 
significant  stone^  which,  brought  out  and 
adorned  by  the  Master  Builder,  will  yet 
ensure  the  erection  and  ultimate  comple- 
tion of  the  temple.  The  figure  of  the 
"  Branch,"  which  appears  as  a  proper  name 
in  Zech.  vi.  12,  is  already  familiar  from 
passages  like  Jer.  xxiii.  5,  xxxiii.  15,  Isa.  Iv.  2, 
xi.  I  ;  and  even  the  profoundly  solemn  oracle 
in  Deutero-Isaiah,  where  the  ideal  Servant 

79 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

of  Jehovali  is  represented  as  "  a  root  out  of 
a  dry  ground,"  with  no  form  nor  comeliness, 
and  no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  him 
(Isa.  liii.  2).  Thus  humbly  and  obscurely 
would  the  coming  Messiah  appear  as  a 
branch  ;  but,  unlike  the  charred  brand  fit 
only  for  the  fire,  He  would  grow  and  flourish 
like  the  goodly  cedar,  until  its  benign 
shadow  would  fill  the  land.  The  services 
of  Joshua  and  his  colleagues  might  be  re- 
stricted in  various  ways — both  by  the 
earthliness  of  their  aims  and  by  the  local 
character  of  their  sanctuary — but  who  could 
set  any  bounds  to  the  priesthood  of  God's 
servant  the  Branch  ?  He  would  appear  in 
the  power  of  an  endless  life,  and  sacrifice 
and  intercede  for  all.  Here,  indeed,  was  a 
hope  that  might  well  fill  the  people  of 
Jehovah  with  a  fully  assured  faith.  In  the 
greatness  and  glory  of  the  Messianic  fulfil- 
ment their  profound  spiritual  ideal  would  be 
verified. 

But  what  of  the  urgency  of  their  present 
national  distress  ?  This  suggested  the  com- 
panion picture  of  a  "  stone,"  which  having 

80 


The    Purification  of  the  Church 

been  set  before  Joshua,  the  high  priest,  was 
to  ensure  the  ultimate  completion  and 
adequate  adornment  of  the  Jewish  temple. 
"  Behold  the  stone  that  I  have  set  before 
Joshua ;  upon  that  one  stone  shall  be 
directed  seven  eyes — the  seven  eyes  which 
symbolise  the  universal  providence  and 
care  of  Jehovah  (cf.  iv.  lo) — and  behold 
whatever  decoration  be  necessary  in  order 
to  fit  the  stone  for  its  place  at  the  corner 
or  capital,  I  myself  will  engrave  the  engrav- 
ing thereof ;  until  when  it  is  finally  placed 
in  position,  and  the  Messianic  temple  has 
become  a  completed  fact,  I  will  remove 
the  iniquity  of  that  land  in  one  day."  In 
a  word,  the  ideal  temple,  like  the  ideal 
Jerusalem,  will  be  a  house  of  prayer  for  all 
nations  ;  and  the  luxuriance  of  my  Servant 
the  Branch  will  throw  its  welcome  shadow 
over  the  whole.  Then,  indeed,  the  ultimate 
goal  of  Old  Testament  pedagogy  will  be 
reached  ;  each  man  will  sit  under  his  vine 
and  under  his  fig-tree,  and  invite  his 
neighbour  to  come  and  share  in  the  blessings 
of  an  enduring  peace. 
F  8i 


VI 

THE  UPBUILDING  OF  THE  COMMUNITY 

Chapter  IV, 


THE  UPBUILDING  OF  THE 
COMMUNITY 

This  naturally  follows  the  restoration  and 
purification  of  the  Church.     Joshua,  their 
ecclesiastical  ruler,  has  been  installed  into 
office ;   and  now  a  suitable  message  has  to 
be   prepared   and   conveyed   to   their   civil 
head,  Zerubbabel.     This  is  the  meaning  of 
Zech.  iv.     In    most  communities   the  dis- 
tinction between  the  two  spheres  is  easily 
defined    and    appreciated,    and    no    serious 
difficulty   is    experiened    in    specifying   the 
functions  of  each.     But  in  Israel's  case,  the 
two  offices  were  so  closely  allied,  and  the 
religious  factor  so  strongly  accentuated  as 
in  chap,  iii.,  that  the  prophet  must  have 
felt  it  a  delicate  task,  not  simply  to  hold 
the  balance  between  them,  but  to  find  any 
place  in  his  ideal  kingdom  for  the  person 
and    work    of    Zerubbabel.     The    delicacy 

8s 


The  Man  among  the   Myrtles 

of  this  problem,  and  not  any  spiritual 
exhaustion  produced  by  the  preceding 
visions,  is  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
significant  pause  observable  in  ver.  i.  He 
had  lingered  so  long  in  the  grove  of  myrtles 
trying  to  reconcile  these  conflicting  interests, 
that  a  considerable  interval  elapsed  before 
he  was  able  to  throw  into  shape  his  fully- 
matured  convictions.  And  when  the  truth 
did  dawn  upon  his  mind  with  all  the  force 
of  a  divine  illumination,  he  could  only  liken 
it  to  a  return  of  his  angel  interpreter,  and  a 
spirit-taught  awakening  out  of  sleep.  "  The 
angel  that  talked  with  me  came  again,  and 
waked  me  ;  as  a  man  that  is  waked  (daily  ^) 
out  of  sleep." 

I.  The  Re-emphasising  of  Israel's 
Spiritual  Calling. 

The  message  to  Zerubbabel  can  only 
begin  with  a  re-affirming  of  Israel's  spiritual 

1  The  frequentative  imperfect  denotes  the  repeated  ex- 
perience of  a  man,  and  is  quite  distinct  from  the  single, 
completed  action  depicted  by  the  perfect  in  chap.  ii.  17 
(Heb.). 

86 


Upbuilding   of  the  Community 

calling.  "  He  said  unto  me,  What  seest 
thou  (cf.  Jer.  i.  12)  ?  And  I  said,  I  see,  and 
behold  a  candlestick  all  of  gold,  with  a 
bowl  (LXX)  upon  the  top  of  it,  and  its 
seven  lamps  thereon ;  and  seven  pipes  to 
the  lamps  which  are  upon  it  (omitting  the 
first  *  seven '  with  the  LXX)  ;  and  two 
olive  trees  by  it,  one  upon  its  right  side 
(Kittel)  and  the  other  upon  its  left.  And 
I  answered  and  spake  to  the  angel  that 
talked  with  me,  saying,  What  are  these, 
lord  ?  Then  the  angel  that  talked  with 
me,  said  .  .  .  This  is  the  word  of  the 
Lord  unto  Zerubbabel,  saving.  Not  by 
martial  force  (Heersmacht^  Orelli)  nor  by 
power,  but  by  My  spirit,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts." 

One  can  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
this  is  a  perfect  picture  of  Israel's  spiritual 
ideal.  The  seven-branched  candlestick  is 
an  expressive  symbol  of  the  holy  nation 
engaged  in  priestly  service.  She  had  been 
chosen  of  God  to  reflect  His  praise  and  to 
illumine  the  surrounding  darkness,  until, 
all    darkness    being    scattered,    the    whole 

87 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

earth  would  become  a  tabernacle  filled 
with  heaven's  own  light.  Her  election, 
therefore,  did  not  mean  the  rejection  of 
others.  Why  should  the  shutting  in  of 
some  be  the  means  of  shutting  others  out  ? 
This  is  not  the  meaning  of  election  in  any 
age.  It  was  election  to  serve^  and  the 
very  idea  of  service  implied  that  the  others 
could  be  served.  Instead  of  leading  the  way 
to  a  Judaism  that  hated  humanity,  divine 
revelation  was  ever  seeking  to  utter  the 
words  : — "  Mine  house  shall  be  called  a 
house  of  prayer  for  all  peoples  "  (Isa.  Ivi.  7). 
And  thus  the  priestly  nation,  having  been 
bathed  in  the  laver  of  purification  (chap,  iii.), 
was  now  summoned  by  the  symbolism  of 
the  golden  candlestick  to  enter  into  the 
service  of  Jehovah,  and  hold  aloft  the  torch 
of  truth  among  the  surrounding  nations. 

Election  and  insfiration — this  is  the 
teaching  of  the  oil.  The  candlestick  had  to 
be  fed  continually  with  "  pure  olive  oil 
beaten  " — that  is,  oil  prepared  in  the  way 
which  yielded  the  whitest,  purest  light  by 
beating  the  unripe,  green  olives  in  a  mortar 

88 


Upbuilding   of  the  Community 

(Ex.  xxvii.  20).  And  this,  as  all  expositors 
agree,  is  a  suggestive  symbol  of  the  divine 
spirit.  "  It  is  not  by  might  nor  by  power, 
but  by  My  spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
This  is  the  application  of  the  figure  made  in 
Zechariah's  vision,  when  the  attending 
angel  interpreted  the  two  olive  trees  that 
stood  beside  the  golden  lampstand,  and  fed 
it  perpetually  with  consecrated  oil.  The 
light  which  Israel  was  to  give  back  in  service 
was  first  of  all  divinely  supplied  by  inspira- 
tion. The  shining  was  dependent  on  the 
anointing.  No  one  was  sent  a  warring  on 
his  own  charges.  The  calling  was  supple- 
mented by  the  chrism  of  a  divine  endowment. 
In  the  light  of  this  higher  teaching  what 
was  the  duty  of  every  true  patriot  in  Jeru- 
salem ?  Was  it  not  to  conserve  the  sanctity, 
and  enforce  the  spirituality  of  Israel's  high 
calling  ?  Israel's  ideal,  as  already  noted, 
was  not  political,  but  religious.  She  was 
not  an  empire,  but  a  Church.  Hence  if 
the  leaders  in  general,  or  Zerubbabel  in 
particular,  were  cherishing  any  secular 
ambitions  in  connection  with  the  restoration 

89 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

of  Jerusalem,  the  sooner  they  surrendered 
this  illusive  dream,  and  found  their  supreme 
concern  in  the  higher  interests  of  religion, 
the  sooner  would  they  gain  a  firm  footing  in 
the  holy  land,  and  rise  to  their  destined 
place  in  the  approved  comity  of  nations. 
It  was  the  lack  of  this  which  had  proved 
Israel's  snare  in  the  past.  The  dream  of  a 
political  supremacy,  or  the  hope  of  holding 
their  own  amid  the  clash  of  empires,  had 
ever  been  the  ignis  fatuus  which  allured 
their  fathers  to  their  doom.  Both  Ephraim 
and  Judah  had  become  joined  to  these 
idols ;  and  therefore,  first  in  Samaria,  and 
then  in  Jerusalem,  they  had  the  downfall 
of  the  State.  It  had  been  a  ruinous  policy 
from  first  to  last ;  and  if  the  old  folly  was 
not  to  be  repeated  in  the  times  of  the 
second  temple,  the  solemn  teaching  given 
to  Zerubbabel  must  be  laid  seriously  to 
heart,  that  it  was  not  by  martial  force  or 
political  ascendency  that  Israel  was  to  rise 
to  future  greatness,  but  by  absolute  devotion 
to  the  spirit  of  the  theocracy  which  alone 
could  make  her  a  burning  and  a  shining  lamp 

90 


upbuilding  of  the   Community 

— a  divine  lampstand,  replenished  not  by 
anything  human,  but  by  the  perennial  and 
inexhaustible  supplies  of  God's  covenant 
mercy.  It  was  a  sacred  calling — one  far 
beyond  the  sparks  of  Israel's  own  kindling. 
The  torch  that  was  to  lighten  the  world 
must  be  lit  at  the  altar  of  God.  She 
required  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One. 

2.  The  Part  Played  by  Zerubbabel. 

According  to  the  present  vision  the  role 
of  the  civil  ruler  was  to  be  confined  to  the 
erection  of  the  temple.  Instead  of  being 
directed  to  the  founding  and  strengthening 
of  a  State,  he  was  summoned  to  support  the 
leaders  of  the  sacerdotal  order  in  their 
eflForts  to  reorganise  the  worship.  And  if 
he  did  so  with  devotion — resisting  the 
temptation  to  bring  Israel  into  an  inde- 
pendent position  by  consolidating  her  ex- 
ternal power — he  was  promised  that  the 
difficulties  which  had  lain  so  long  in  the 
way  of  the  temple  restoration  would  be 
removed  out  of  his  path — levelled  by  the 

91 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

command  and  divine  assistance  of  Jehovah, 
Israel's  God.  Every  high  hill  would  be 
brought  low.  This  is  the  teaching  of 
verses  7-10,  which  may  be  paraphrased  as 
follows  : — "  That  great  mountain  which 
stands  before  Zerubbabel  /  will  set  as  a 
plain  (Kittel's  emendation)  ;  and  he  shall 
bring  forth  the  headstone  amid  the  acclama- 
tions and  prayers  of  the  people.  For  thus 
saith  the  Lord,  The  hands  of  Zerubbabel 
have  laid  the  foundation  of  this  house,  and 
his  hands  shall  finish  (it) ;  and  despite  the 
gloomy  forebodings  of  some  who  bemoan 
the  insignificance  of  its  beginning,  the 
seven  eyes  of  Jehovah  shall  see  with  joy  the 
plummet  in  the  hand  of  Zerubbabel,  and 
mark  with  approbation  the  dedicatory 
services  connected  with  that  auspicious  day. 
And  if  even  divine  Omniscience  thus 
approve  of  the  temple  dedication,  who  can 
presume  to  depreciate  or  ridicule  the 
work  ?  " 

Did  the  old  men  who  moved  about 
among  the  rising  walls  of  the  temple  affect 
to  despise  it  ?     Did  they  help  to  discourage 

92 


Upbuilding  of  the   Community 

the  hearts  of  the  builders  hy  dwelling  upon 
the  dimensions  of  the  former  sanctuary, 
and  peevishly  suggest  that  the  present 
building  was  as  nothing  in  their  eyes 
(Hag.  ii.  3)  ?  The  disparagement  was 
utterly  inexcusable.  It  had  only  the  sem- 
blance of  validity,  if  one  was  prepared  to 
ignore  the  greatness  of  Israel's  spiritual 
ideal.  Viewed  in  the  light  of  that  higher 
teaching,  the  complaint  was  not  worthy  of 
those  who  sought  to  keep  in  touch  with 
present  necessities,  and  who  were  still 
capable  of  being  thrilled  with  the  buoyancy 
of  a  spirit-taught  hope.  To  men  who  had 
caught  a  glimpse  of  Israel's  future — and 
surely  Zerubbabel  would  try  to  be  one  of 
them — its  comparatively  insignificant  be- 
ginning did  not  appear  as  a  day  of  small 
things ;  for  even  now,  in  the  light  of  their 
spiritual  destiny,  it  was  big  with  the  promise 
of  what  might  yet  be.  It  was  not  unlike 
the  bursting  of  the  seed  in  springtime. 
Anyone  may  stand  priestlike  beside  the 
opening  bud,  and  say,  "  It  doth  not  yet 
appear  what  it  shall  be  "  ;   for  rolled  up  in 

93 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

its  tiny  folds,  as  in  a  cradle,  is  the  germinal 
principle  of  animation,  and  this  is  endowed 
with  the  mysterious  property  and  potency 
of  growth.  Massive  and  inert  may  be  the 
weight  of  brown  earth  through  which  the 
tender  blade  has  to  push  its  way  upwards 
in  the  spring ;  but  the  slender  spike  of 
green  is  a  living  thing,  and  we  cannot 
afford  to  despise  the  feebleness  of  its  origin  ; 
for  it  will  yet  help  to  cover  the  entire  field 
with  the  fulness  and  glory  of  harvest. 

Besides,  the  part  played  by  Zerubbabel 
is  not  to  be  exhausted  by  the  temple 
dedication.  Faithfulness  at  the  present 
juncture  will  be  rewarded  and  crowned  by 
an  ever-increasing  service  in  the  future. 
He,  too,  will  be  accepted  as  a  man  of 
"  portent."  The  prince,  no  less  than  the 
priest,  is  a  type  of  the  coming  "  Branch."  In 
truth,  the  completion  of  the  temple  is  only 
an  august  beginning.  It  will  be  succeeded, 
in  due  course,  by  the  erection  of  the  city 
walls.  And  these,  in  turn,  will  sweep  out 
into  that  ideal  kingdom  depicted  in 
chap.  ii.  8  (Heb.),  when  Jerusalem  will  be 

94 


Upbuilding  of  the  Community 

inhabited  as  villages  without  walls,  and 
when  royalty,  no  less  than  priesthood,  will 
prepare  the  way  for  the  Messianic  fulfilment, 
and  usher  in  God's  Servant,  the  Branch,  who 
is  both  King  and  Priest.  Is  this  not  the 
precise  teaching  of  verses -11-14  ?  "Then 
answered  I,  and  said  unto  him.  What  are 
these  two  olive  trees  upon  the  right  side  of 
the  candlestick,  and  upon  the  left  side 
thereof  ?  And  (not  waiting  for  an  answer) 
I  asked  the  second  time,  saying.  What  be 
these  two  olive  branches  (or,  tufts,  from 
which  the  oil  flows  into  the  bowl,  Orelli) 
which  by  means  of  the  two  golden  spouts 
(or,  beaks,  LXX)  empty  the  golden  oil  out 
of  themselves  ?  And  he  answered  me,  and 
said  .  .  .  These  are  the  two  sons  of  oil 
(R.V.)  that  stand  by  the  Lord  of  the  whole 
earth."  In  other  language,  the  two  olive 
trees  are  the  two  offices  of  kingship  and 
priesthood,  instituted  in  Israel  by  the 
chrism  of  a  divine  anointing  ;  and  the  two 
tufts,  which  empty  the  golden  oil  into  the 
bowl,  are  the  two  representatives  of  these 
offices,   viz.,   Zerubbabel  and  Joshua — the 

95 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

whole  symbolism  being  well  designed  to 
teach  Israel  that  so  long  as  her  civil  and 
religious  affairs  were  administered  with 
discretion,  so  long  would  Jehovah  enable 
them,  through  these  appointed  channels, 
not  only  to  triumph  over  their  present 
difficulties,  but  to  shine  as  a  lamp  among 
the  surrounding  nations,  and  usher  in  the 
greatness  and  glory  of  the  Messianic  age. 
Zerubbabel  is  not  set  before  Joshua,  and 
still  less  is  Joshua  set  before  Zerubbabel. 
They  are  placed  on  a  footing  of  perfect 
equality  beside  the  Lord  of  the  whole 
earth,  and  the  conflicting  interests  connected 
with  the  two  offices  are  most  happily 
reconciled.  The  one  leader  may  simply 
use  the  trowel  in  the  furtherance  of  Israel's 
cause,  while  the  other  uses  the  censer 
and  sprinkles  the  sacrificial  blood  ;  but  if  a 
similar  spirit  of  devotion  be  found  behind 
the  two  actions,  the  services  of  the  two 
representatives  will  be  divinely  equalised. 
Only  let  Zerubbabel  do  his  part  well  in 
helping  to  reorganise  the  worship,  and 
both     his     official    position    and    personal 

96 


Upbuilding  of  the   Community 

service  will  be  duly  recognised  and  acknow- 
ledged. There  is  no  distinction  between 
secular  and  sacred  in  the  spiritual  ideal  of 
Israel.  The  divine  spirit  of  the  theocracy 
may  be  equally  honoured  in  both ;  and 
"  those  that  honour  Me,  I  will  honour." 


3.  The  Meaning  of  the  Vision  for  Us. 

Instead  of  being  weakened  or  eclipsed 
by  the  greatness  of  the  Messianic  fulfilment, 
it  has  only  been  illumined  and  intensified 
by  being  "  baptized  into  Christ."  There  is 
(i)  the  lesson  of  the  divine  fulness  of 
blessing  as  symbolised  by  the  oil.  The 
two  olive  trees  which  stood  beside  the 
golden  lampstand  were  the  type  of  a 
perennial  and  inexhaustible  supply.  There 
was  no  need,  as  in  the  Mosaic  tabernacle, 
to  replenish  daily  the  exhausted  lamps,  or 
to  prepare  the  oil  according  to  divine 
prescription,  so  as  to  secure  the  highest 
degree  of  excellence  in  the  light.  Human 
agency  in  this  respect  was  not  introduced 
at  all.  The  tw^o  living  trees  produced  by 
G  97 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

themselves  an  abundant  and  unfailing 
supply,  and  by  means  of  the  two  golden 
spouts  which  communicated  with  the  bowl 
upon  the  lampstand,  they  fed  the  seven 
lamps  with  a  continuous  stream  of  oil, 
which  was  the  type  of  Israel's  fulness  of 
blessing  received  from  Jehovah.  And  that 
divine  fulness  is  intended  for  us.  In  the 
God  of  Israel  there  is  a  sufficiency  of  grace 
and  goodness  for  all  His  creatures.  No  one 
is  asked  to  remove  mountains  in  his  own 
strength.  No  one  is  expected  to  shine  like 
a  lamp  in  the  sparks  of  his  own  kindling. 
No  one  is  under  any  necessity  of  preparing 
the  oil  or  creating  a  holy  spirit  for  himself. 
"  If  ye  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your 
children,  how  much  more  shall  your  heavenly 
Father  give  the  holy  spirit  to  them  that 
ask  him  ?  "  That  spirit  presses  everywhere 
like  the  air  we  breathe.  It  is  the  very  breath 
of  God  touching  the  soul.  And  when,  like 
the  incoming  tide,  it  fills  every  crevice  and 
fissure  along  the  shore,  the  individual  life, 
instead  of  being  impoverished  and  weak,  is 
filled  unto  all  "  the  fulness  of  God." 

98 


Upbuilding  of  the  Community 

But,  again  (2),  we  have  the  channels 
through  which  the  consecrated  oil  had  to 
be  conveyed.  It  was  conveyed  by  means 
of  the  two  sons  of  oil  who  stood  by  the  Lord 
of  the  whole  earth.  And  these  two  sons 
of  oil,  or  the  representatives  of  royalty  and 
priesthood,  are,  as  most  expositors  admit, 
fitly  taken  up  and  fulfilled  in  the  great 
Antitype,  who  was  at  once  King  and  Priest. 
Through  the  kingly  and  priestly  offices  of 
Christ  we  have  the  one  mediatorial  channel 
through  which  the  holy  anointing  oil  is 
conveyed  to  man.  And  thus  we  have  the 
mystic  teaching  of  all  the  New  Testament 
writers,  that  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the 
divine  spirit  are  brought  near  to  us  in  and 
through  Him,  It  is  only  as  we  keep  our- 
selves in  vital  contact  with  Christ  that  we 
enter,  in  any  measure,  into  the  divine 
fulness  of  grace,  holiness,  and  comfort,  which 
are  represented  to  us  in  the  golden  lamp- 
stand.  *'  He  that  spared  not  His  own  Son, 
but  delivered  Him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall 
He  not  also  with  Him  freely  give  us  all 
things  ?  "     No  Zerubbabel  in  the  church 

99 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

to-day  has  profited  as  he  might  have  done 
by  the  teaching  of  the  golden  candlestick, 
who  has  not  sought  pardon  and  life,  fitness 
and  power  to  shine,  through  the  royal  and 
priestly  functions  of  God's  divine  Son. 

For  (3)  all  this  is  necessary  in  view  of 
the  spirituality  of  Israel's  ideal.  That 
ideal  is  equally  incumbent  on  us.  "  Ye 
are  an  elect  race,  a  royal  priesthood,  a 
holy  nation,  a  people  for  God's  own  pos- 
session, that  ye  may  show  forth  the  excel- 
lencies of  Him  who  called  you  out  of 
darkness  into  His  marvellous  light  "  (i  Pet. 
ii.  9).  There  are  both  election  and  endow- 
ment in  the  priesthood  of  Christian  men — 
election  to  serve,  and  endowment  of  the 
Holy  Ghost — and  both  derived  from  Him 
who  walks  amidst  the  seven  golden  candle- 
sticks and  holds  the  seven  stars  in  His  right 
hand  (Rev.  i.  13).  Elected  to  serve,  per- 
haps to  suffer,  certainly  to  shine — to  shine 
like  stars  in  the  darkness  of  midnight 
when  no  eye  sees  but  God's.  Who  is 
sufficient  for  this  service  ?  No  one  who 
trusts  in  his  own  wisdom,  and  is  blind  to 

100 


Upbuilding  of  the  Community 

the  forces  that  are  divine.  It  is  not  by 
might  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit, 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  The  lampstand 
that  is  to  illumine  the  tabernacle  of  the 
world  must  be  lit  at  the  altar  of  God.  We, 
too,  need  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One. 


lOI 


VII 

THE  CLEANSING  OF  THE  LAND 

Chapter  V. 


THE  CLEANSING  OF  THE  LAND 

In  the  preceding  sections  the  prophet 
has  dealt  with  the  leaders  of  the  community. 
He  removed  at  once  the  guilty  fears  of  the 
one  and  the  political  aspirations  of  the 
other,  by  portraying  Joshua  and  Zerubba- 
bel  as  the  two  sons  of  oil  that  stand  by  the 
Lord  of  the  whole  earth.  Political  aspira- 
tions, however,  were  not  by  any  means 
the  only  weakness  which  he  had  to  expose. 
As  he  betook  himself,  time  after  time,  to 
the  grove  of  myrtles,  he  was  painfully 
conscious  of  being  confronted  by  another. 
Throughout  the  entire  community  he  could 
feel  the  benumbing  influence  of  the  mercen- 
ary spirit  of  the  times.  Probably  a  growing 
reluctance  on  the  part  of  some  to  pay  the 
temple  dues  had  brought  the  matter  to  a 
crisis  :  and  Zechariah  had  the  mortification 
of  learning  that  not  a  few  who  dwelt  in 

los 


The  Man  among  the   Myrtles 

their  own  "  cieled  houses  "  (Hag.  i.  4)  were 
among   the  first   to   perpetrate  the  fraud. 
Here,  indeed,  was   a  recrudescence  of   the 
age-long  evil  depicted  by  Zephaniah,  when 
through     absorbing    attention    to    secular 
business   (i.    11)    the    people    were    sinking 
into    religious    indifference,    or    becoming 
"settled    upon    their    lees"    (ver.     12) — a 
moral  apathy  which  was  sure  to  degenerate 
into    practical    infidelity    or    the    unbelief 
which  says,  "  The  Lord  will  not  do  good, 
neither  will  He  do  evil."     But  what  availed 
the    higher    ideals     impressed     upon     the 
leaders,   if  the   people   themselves  were  in 
danger  of  sinking  into  a  moral  apathy  like 
this  ?     What  if  the  people  of  Jehovah  had 
become    so    engrossed   in    secular    pursuits 
that     they     were      gradually     losing      all 
interest  in,  and  love  for,  the  sanctuary  and 
faith  of  their  fathers  ?     Would  the  higher 
aspirations    of   the   leaders  absolve  or  save 
them  ?     No,   the   spirituality   of   the   ideal 
must  be  reflected  in  civic  justice  and  com- 
mercial   integrity,     else    the    doom    pro- 
nounced by  Amos   (chap,   viii.)   would  go 

106 


The  Cleansing  of  the  Land 

forth  as  a  swift  curse,  and  alight  upon  the 
ungodly  nation  after  all.  This  is  the  new 
aspect  of  the  subject  which  appeals  to 
Zechariah  in  this  passage ;  and  in  the  double- 
vision  recorded  in  these  paragraphs,  we 
have  the  spirit-taught  message  with  which 
he  was  commissioned  to  go  to  the  people. 

I.  A  Flying  Roll. 

"  Then,  again,  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes, 
and  saw,  and  behold  a  flying  roll  (LXX 
*  sickle  ').  And  he  said  unto  me,  What 
seest  thou  ?  And  I  answered,  I  see  a 
flying  roll ;  the  length  thereof  is  twenty 
cubits,  and  the  breadth  thereof  ten  cubits. 
Then  said  he  unto  me.  This  is  the  curse  that 
goeth  forth  over  the  face  of  the  whole 
land  (R.V.)  ;  for  every  one  that  stealeth 
shall  be  purged  out  as  many  as  they  are 
(cf.  vii.  3),  and  every  one  that  sweareth  shall 
be  purged  out  as  many  as  they  are.  I  have 
(perfect)  caused  it  to  go  forth,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  and  it  shall  enter  into  the 
house  of  the  thief,  and  into  the  house  of 

107 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

him  that  sweareth  falsely  by  My  name  : 
and  it  shall  abide  in  the  midst  of  his 
house,  and  shall  consume  it  with  the 
timber  thereof,  and  the  stones  thereof " 
(vers.  1-4). 

As  compared  with  the  personal  note  in 
this  section,  some  may  prefer  to  deal  with 
evil  in  the  abstract.  Drunkenness,  vice, 
oppression,  fraud,  or  any  other  social  evil 
ought  to  be  condemned  in  the  most  wither- 
ing terms  of  invective ;  but  who  would 
care  to  approach  and  pillory  the  trans- 
gressor himself,  and  say  "  Thou  art  the 
man "  ?  Why,  the  individual  offender 
may  have  been  the  merest  toy  in  the  grip 
of  circumstances.  Heredity,  environment, 
commercial  competition,  and  what  not, 
may  all  have  entered  as  determining  and 
therefore  extenuating  factors  :  and  when 
these  and  similar  facts  have  been  duly 
weighed  and  discounted,  the  sin,  it  is  true, 
may  still  be  deserving  of  public  scorn,  but 
the  individual  delinquent,  as  the  case  may 
be,  ought  to  be  pitied  rather  than  blamed. 
Hebrew    prophecy,    as    might    have    been 

108 


The  Cleansing  of  the  Land 

expected,  had  no  such  timidity  or  false 
delicacy.  The  sin  of  theft  or  of  perjury 
might  be  reprehensible  enough,  and  call 
forth  the  censure  of  all  true  patriots  and 
preachers,  but  they  never  failed  to  begin 
with  the  person  of  the  wrong-doer,  and  to 
pronounce  God's  righteous  judgment  on 
the  guilty.  Notwithstanding  every  ex- 
tenuating circumstance,  man  is  "  man  and 
master  of  his  fate,"  and  ought  to  be  judged 
and  treated  accordingly.  Hence  if  any 
one  went  forth,  like  Achan,  and  appropri- 
ated part  of  the  spoils  which  had  been 
placed  under  a  divine  taboo,  it  was  not 
enough  that  the  captain  of  the  army  should 
denounce  the  sacrilege  that  had  wrought 
such  folly  in  Israel  :  he  must  institute  also 
a  searching  inquiry  for  the  detection  and 
punishment  of  the  criminal,  that  both 
he  and  his  ill-gotten  gains  might  be 
expelled  from  the  camp.  In  a  similar 
manner,  when  Zechariah  would  stigmatise 
the  deceit  that  tampered  with  the  temple 
dues,  or  characterise  the  judgment  that 
was  sure  to  tread  upon  its  heels,  he  could 

109 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

only  liken  it  to  a  flying  roll  or  a  swiftly 
moving  curse,  which  would  overtake  both 
thieves  and  perjurers,  and  overwhelm  them 
in  a  common  doom.  They  might  cheat 
and  defraud  the  sanctuary  if  they  dared, 
but  the  retribution  pronounced  upon  all 
such  duplicity  would  assuredly  come  home 
to  roost.  It  would  come  and  lodge  in  the 
house  of  each  culpable  transgressor,  and, 
like  dry-rot  fastening  upon  the  timber, 
it  would  lay  the  whole  fabric  in  ruins. 

The  entire  house !  i,e,  timber  and  stone 
alike,  or  as  one  might  say,  mit  Haut  und 
Haaren  (Wellhausen)  ;  for  the  destruction 
of  the  tent  or  house  was  an  old  form  of 
punishment,  signifying  the  expulsion  of 
the  entire  family  from  the  camp  or  village. 
Nothing  would  escape  the  blighting  in- 
fluence of  the  curse.  Like  a  flying  eagle 
it  was  ready  to  swoop  upon  the  prey,  and 
the  whole  household  of  the  perjured 
person  would  become  its  carrion.  Dr. 
Dods  has  finely  illustrated  this  aspect  of 
the  subject  by  the  story  of  Glaucus  in 
Herodotus.     Having  received  a  deposit  of 

no 


The  Cleansing  of  the  Land 

money  in  trust,  he  wished  to  appropriate 
it  for  his  own  use ;  and  came  to  the  oracle 
at  Delphi  to  enquire  if  he  might  take  an 
oath  that  he  had  never  received  it.  The 
following  was  the  answer : — 

"  Best  for   the   present   it  were,  O    Glaucus,  to  do  as 

thou  wishest, 
Swearing   an  oath  to  prevail,  and  so  to  make   prize 

of  the  money, 
Swear   then — death    is   the   lot    even    of  those   who 

never  swear  falsely. 
Yet  hath  the  Oath- God  a  Son,  nameless,  footless  and 

handless  : 
Mighty  in  strength  He  approaches  to  vengeance,  and 

whelms  in  destruction 
All  who   belong  to  the    race,  or   the   house   of  the 

man  who  is  perjured." 

And  yet  in  the  light  of  Israel's  spiritual 
ideal  what  is  the  ultimate  design  of  all 
such  punishment  ?  Not  surely  the  mere 
destruction  of  the  guilty,  as  if  the  satisfying 
of  divine  justice  were  the  only  incentive 
suggested  by  the  flying  roll.  The  end  in 
view  is  something  far  more  worthy  of  a 
divine  moral  government.  It  is  the  mould- 
ing and  purifying  of  the  whole  community 

III 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

that  it  might  be  rendered  fit  for  the  perfect 
exercise  of  its  calling.  If  Achan  perished 
in  the  valley  of  Achor  because  of  his  trespass 
in  the  devoted  thing,  Israel  whom  he  had 
troubled  in  the  presence  of  her  enemies 
was  exonerated  from  the  baleful  influence 
of  the  ban.  And  if  Zechariah,  in  turn,  is 
assured  that  the  same  method  is  to  be 
adopted  in  his  age,  he  knows  that  the  exter- 
mination of  the  thieves  and  false  swearers 
is  designed  to  bring  the  chosen  people 
one  step  nearer  to  the  greatness  of  their 
calling — disciplined  into  purity  and  in- 
spired for  a  more  perfect  service.  This 
surely  was  an  ideal  that  was  worth  the 
discipline  of  obedience  :  and  if  any  one 
was  so  mercenary  in  spirit,  or  unspiritual 
in  outlook,  as  to  refuse  to  acquiesce  in  the 
refining  process,  little  wonder  if,  for  the 
sake  of  that  diviner  vision,  the  earthly 
soul  should  be  removed  out  of  the  way. 
The  prohibition  of  the  accursed  thing 
was  designed  for  Israel's  good ;  but  if  dis- 
obedience to  the  higher  teaching  had 
changed  the  blessing  into  a  ban,  then  he 

112 


The  Cleansing  of  the   Land 

who  coveted  the  spoils  of  war  and  hid 
them  within  his  tent,  had  simply  to  be 
expelled.  That  the  sin,  however,  no  less 
than  the  sinner  was  duly  anathematised  in 
Israel  is  obvious  from  the  section  that 
follows  : — 


2.  A  Deported  Ephah. 

"  Then  the  angel  that  talked  with  me 
appeared,  and  said  unto  me.  Lift  up  now 
thine  eyes,  and  see  the  bushel  which  there 
comes  into  view  (so  Wellhausen).  And 
I  said.  What  is  it  ?  And  he  said,  This  is 
their  transgression  (LXX)  in  the  whole 
land :  and  behold  a  circlet  of  lead  was 
lifted  up,  and  a  woman  was  sitting  in  the 
ephah.  And  he  said,  This  is  Wickedness  : 
and  he  cast  her  down  into  the  midst  of  the 
ephah,  and  he  cast  the  weight  of  lead  upon 
the  mouth  thereof.  Then  lifted  I  up  mine 
eyes,  and  saw,  and  behold  there  came  forth 
two  women,  and  the  wind  was  in  their 
wings  :  now  they  had  wings  like  the  wings 
of  a  stork  :    and  they  lifted  up  the  ephah 

H  113 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

between  the  earth  and  the  heaven.  Then 
said  I  .  .  .  Whither  do  these  bear  the 
ephah  ?  And  he  said  unto  me,  To  build 
her  an  house  in  the  land  of  Shinar  :  and 
when  it  is  prepared,  she  shall  be  set  there 
in  her  own  place  "  (vers.  6-11). 

A  deported  ephah !  truly  a  most  significant 
symbol,  whether  we  think  of  its  form,  its 
contents,  or  its  destination.  The  measure, 
in  itself,  was  eloquent  with  meaning  as  to 
the  kind  of  evil  that  was  threatening  to 
secularise  the  people.  Did  they  possess 
an  ephah  for  the  setting  forth  of  wheat 
immediately  after  the  passing  of  the 
Sabbath  ?  So  had  Jehovah,  Israel's  God, 
for  setting  forth  the  character  and  value  of 
their  actions.  And  if  they  were  tempted 
to  make  the  ephah  small  and  the  shekel 
great,  and  to  deal  falsely  with  the  balances 
of  deceit  (cf.  Amos  viii.  5)  let  them  never 
forget  that  the  Great  Husbandman  was  fully 
aware  of  their  duplicity,  and  was  even  now 
weighing  and  measuring  it,  and  placing  it 
to  their  account.  It  was  not  unlike  the 
imagery   of   the   bow.     What   though   the 

114 


The  Cleansing  of  the  Land 

wicked  had  bent  their  bow,  and  made  ready 
the  arrow  upon  the  string,  that  they  might 
shoot  privily  at  the  upright  in  heart  (Ps. 
xi.  2)  ?  There  was  Another  who  had  bent 
His  bow  long  before  them.  God  is  a 
righteous  judge,  yea,  a  God  that  hath 
indignation  every  day.  If  a  man  turn  not, 
He  will  whet  His  sword ;  He  hath  bent  His 
bow  and  made  it  ready  (Ps.  vii.  12).  And 
what  will  happen  when  all  this  divine 
preparation  blazes  into  action  .?  Ah,  let 
those  who  are  prepared  to  grow  rich  by 
violence  and  robbery — by  dishonest  trading, 
false  weights  and  worthless  goods — tremble 
at  the  thought  that  He  whose  punitive 
energy  is  about  to  burst  forth,  has  accurately 
weighed  all  their  practices  and  motives  in 
His  ephah. 

For  the  contents  of  this  divine  symbol 
are  even  more  arresting  than  its  form.  It, 
is  filled  (symbolically)  with  the  accumulated 
mass  of  the  nation's  sin.  "  This  is  their 
transgression  in  the  whole  land."  It  is  the 
sum  of  all  their  theft  and  perjury,  fraud 
and  impiety,  which  would  defy,  desecrate 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

and  destroy  both  tables  of  the  law.  Is  It 
represented  as  a  woman — "  full-grown, 
seductive,  plotting,  prolific  "  (Dods) ;  and 
therefore  ready  to  sweep  out  and  infect 
and  poison  the  whole  land  ?  All  the  more 
need  that  it  should  be  thrust  back  into  the 
midst  of  the  ephah,  and  that  the  heavy 
weight  of  lead,  which  had  been  raised  for 
a  moment,  should  again  be  pressed  firmly 
upon  its  mouth.  This  was  wickedness — 
restless,  defiant,  insidious — a  moral  miasma 
capable  of  poisoning  the  entire  national 
life ;  and  therefore  fit  only  to  be  expelled 
from  the  country,  lifted  up  between  heaven 
and  earth,  and  deported  into  another  land. 
This  raised  the  question  of  its  destination. 
On  outstretched  wings,  as  if  they  were  the 
wings  of  a  stork  (at  the  time  of  its  migra- 
tion), two  celestial  genii  soared  aloft  on  the 
breeze,  and  bore  the  sin-bushel  between 
them.  And  when  the  prophet  inquired, 
"  Whither  do  they  bear  the  ephah  ?  "  he 
was  informed  that,  like  the  scapegoat  led 
away  into  the  wilderness,and  carrying  Israel's 
sin  to  the  desert-demon  Azazel  (Lev.xvi.  lo), 

ii6 


The  Cleansing  of  the   Land 

so  the  deported  ephah  would  find  a  home 
in  the  marshlands  of  the  Euphrates  where 
the  boom  of  the  bittern  and  the  multiplied 
cry  of  the  raven  would  bid  it  welcome. 
Away  in  that  land  of  primeval  impiety 
(Gen.  xi.  4)  and  dishonoured  commerce 
(Ezek.  xvii.  4)  the  peculiarly  heinous  sins 
of  arrogance,  injustice  and  fraud  would 
find  a  congenial  home,  and  would  no  longer 
defile  or  plague  the  heritage  of  Jehovah. 
In  fine,  like  another  King  Arthur,  the 
broad-winged  genii  had  successfully  accom- 
plished their  task.  Both  by  flying  roll  and 
deported  ephah,  they  had 

"  Cleared  the  dark  places  and  let  in  the  law, 
And  broke  the  bandit's  holds,  and  cleansed  the  land." 

And  they  had  done  so,  chiefly,  in  the 
light  of  Israel's  ideal.  This  is  the  final 
norm  or  test  of  all  prophetic  teaching. 
Commerce,  no  less  than  politics,  and  social 
reform,  no  less  than  worship,  must  be  lifted 
out  of  the  arena  of  self-interest  altogether, 
and  brought  within  the  sweep  of  Israel's 
spiritual  destiny.     Prince  or  peasant,   lay- 

117 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

man  or  priest,  merchant  or  builder,  shepherd 
or  metal-worker,  must  all  live  and  work, 

**As  ever  in  the  great  Task-master's  eye," 

else  the  Kingdom  of  God,  as  a  kingdom  of 
righteousness  and  peace,  will  never  be  seen 
in  the  earth.  Is  this  not  the  teaching  of  all 
the  generations  ?  "  I,  standing  at  the 
brink  of  the  grave,  cannot  keep  silent," 
writes  Tolstoy,  in  the  Fortnightly  Review 
for  March  1909;  and  the  picture  he  has 
drawn  of  the  ever-increasing  wretchedness 
of  the  world  is  simply  appalling.  "  The 
majority  of  working  people,  deprived  of 
land,  and  therefore  the  possibility  of  enjoy- 
ing the  products  of  their  labour,  hate  the 
landowners  and  capitalists  who  enslave 
them.  The  landowners  and  capitalists, 
aware  of  the  attitude  of  the  working  classes 
toward  them,  fear  and  hate  them,  and  by 
the  aid  of  force,  organised  by  government, 
keep  them  enslaved.  And  steadily  and 
increasingly  the  position  of  the  workers 
grows  worse,  their  dependence  on  the  rich 
increases  ;    and  equally  steadily  and  unceas- 

118 


The  Cleansing  of  the  Land 

ingly  the  wealth  of  the  rich  and  their  power 
over  the  workers  increase,  together  with 
their  fear  and  hatred."  It  is  a  dark  pic- 
ture ;  and  what,  according  to  this  modern 
Zechariah,  is  the  one  remedy  for  this 
state  of  wretchedness  ?  Loyalty  to  the 
ideal,  "  The  means  of  escape  .  .  .  lies  in 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Christian  world 
adopting  the  highest  understanding  of  life 
.  .  .  which  is  the  Christian  teaching  in  its 
real  meaning."  "  The  Christian  teaching 
in  its  full  and  true  meaning  is  that  the 
essential  thing  in  human  life,  and  the 
highest  law  that  can  guide  it,  is  love.'''* 
"  And  acknowledging  the  law  of  love  to  be 
supreme,  and  its  application  in  life  to  be 
exempt  from  any  exceptions,  it  cannot  but 
reject  all  violence,  and  consequently  the 
world's  whole  organisation  which  is  founded 
on  violence." 

Zechariah  in  the  ancient  world,  and  now 
one  like  Tolstoy  in  the  modern,  has  no  other 
message  save  this.  He  can  only  put  the 
trumpet  to  his  lips,  and  summon  the  whole 
Christian  world  to  the  glory  of  forgotten 

119 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

ideals.  The  land  or  the  Church,  society 
or  the  individual  life,  can  be  cleansed  in 
no  other  way.  Each  man  must  be  loyal 
to  the  supremacy  of  Christian  love,  and 
walk  in  the  paths  of  righteousness.  Either 
this  or  an  ignominy  too  awful  to  contem- 
plate. He  who  will  not  help  to  deport  the 
sin-ephah  must  face  the  flying  roll  1 


120 


VIII 
THE  JUSTIFICATION  OF  PROVIDENCE 

Chapter  VI. 


THE  JUSTIFICATION  OF 
PROVIDENCE 

We  now  come  to  the  last  of  the  present 
series  of  visions,  and  instinctively  hark 
back  to  the  first.  Logically,  it  may  be, 
the  prophet  had  no  other  way  of  finishing 
his  subject  :  he  must  complete  the  cycle 
of  his  thinking  by  reviewing  and  recasting 
the  whole.  Hence  the  symbolism  of  chap. 
i.  7-17  is  repeated  in  chap.  vi.  1-8,  depict- 
ing four  teams  of  parti-coloured  steeds 
going  forth  in  all  directions  to  vindicate 
the  ways  of  God  in  the  discipline  of  history. 
Educationally,  too,  the  spiritual  training 
of  Israel  demanded  a  similar  recapitulation. 
No  doubt  the  previous  visions  were  admir- 
ably adapted  to  encourage  the  hopes  and 
fire  the  zeal  of  the  leaders ;  but  who  can 
be  surprised  if  the  prophetic  teaching,  on 
the   part    of    the    people,    had    only   been 

123 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

responded  to  with  considerable  reserva- 
tions ?  Few  of  them,  it  may  be  surmised, 
were  endowed  with  the  prophet's  spiritual 
insight.  Few  of  them  had  meditated,  as 
he  had  done,  in  the  seclusion  of  the  myrtle 
grove.  Consequently  the  sordidness  of 
their  present  was  not  touched,  as  it  might 
have  been,  with  the  glory  of  their  coming 
destiny.  They  were  strangers,  in  large 
measure,  to  the  stimulus  of  that  undecaying 
hope.  In  truth,  the  glory  of  that  future 
was  very  apt  to  be  dimmed  by  the  hard, 
prosaic  facts  of  the  present.  The  prophet 
had  doubtless  sketched  in  glowing  colours 
the  future  expansion  of  the  city,  the  in- 
stallation of  Joshua,  the  honouring  of 
Zerubbabel,  and  the  cleansing  of  the  whole 
land ;  but  where  was  there  any  sign  of 
the  promised  "  shaking  of  the  nations," 
which  was  to  be  the  historical  starting- 
point  for  all  these  blessings  ?  Where 
was  there  any  indication  that  the  age- 
long promise  of  divine  help  and  deliverance 
was  about  to  be  fulfilled  ?  Leaving  the 
argument  ecclesiastical  on  one  side,  what 

124 


The  Justification   of  Providence 

was  the  explanation  or  justification  for 
allowing  things  to  remain  as  they  were  ? 
And  Zecharlah,  in  answer,  could  only  re- 
capitulate and  re-emphasise  the  truths 
already  enunciated :  or  say,  like  another  seer— 

**What  in  me  is  dark, 
Illumine ;    what  is  low,  raise  and  support ; 
That  to  the  height  of  this  great  argument 
I  may  assert  eternal  Providence, 
And  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  men." 


I.  The  Vision. 

Meditating  in  the  Kedron  valley,  the 
prophet  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  beheld 
four  war  -  chariots  (Kriegszvagen,  Orelli) 
coming  forth  from  between  the  two  moun- 
tains— Mount  Zion  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  Mount  of  Olives  on  the  other — and 
the  two  mountains  were  as  mountains  oi 
brass.  They  rose  above  him  as  frowning 
and  unapproachable  precipices ;  and  as 
the  valley  between  is  represented  elsewhere 
as  a  theatre  of  divine  judgment  (chap, 
xiv.  4,  Joel  iii.   12),  the  inaccessible   gorge 

I2S 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

from  whicli  the  four  chariots  rushed  forth 
seemed  to  the  prophet's  gaze  to  be  a  fitting 
symbol  of  the  divine  seat  of  government, 
and   a   fitting   point   of   departure   for   the 
disciplinary   providence    of   the    Lord.     In 
the  first  chariot  were  red.  horses — represent- 
ing blood   and   carnage,    according   to   the 
usual  significance  of  that  colour  (Rev.  vi.  4)  ; 
in  the  second,  hlack  horses — a  no  less  ex- 
pressive symbol  of  famine  and  mourning  ; 
in  the  third,  white  horses — denoting,  as  in 
Rev.  vi.  2,  joy  and  victory ;    while  in  the 
fourth    chariot    were    grizzled    or    piebald 
horses — suggesting,  it    may    be,    the    more 
normal  type  of  divine  providence,  that  it 
is  neither    all   light    nor    all    dark,   but  a 
mixture  and  measure  of  both.     Beholding 
these   four   teams   rushing   forth   from   the 
rocky  defile,  the  prophet  turned  to  the  in- 
terpreting   angel,    and     said,    "  What    are 
these,   lord "  ?     And    the   angel    answered 
and  said,  These  are  divine  emissaries  sent 
forth  towards  (so  Wellhausen)  the  four  winds 
of  heaven,   in   order  to   execute  Jehovah's 
commands.     For  having  approached,  as  the 

126 


The  Justification  of  Providence 

mounted  scouts  of  the  Lord,  and  given  in 
their  report  to  the  man  among  the  myrtle- 
trees  (chap.  i.  li),  they  are  now  seen  hasting 
away  in  the  early  morning  to  punish  and 
subdue  the  nations,  as  the  agents  of  His 
judicial  wrath. 

They  went  forth  in  all  directions.  The 
black  horses  went  into  the  north  country, 
and  were  immediately  followed  by  the 
white  ;  for  if  Israel  had  been  twice  smitten 
in  that  far-off  land — first  by  Sennacherib 
and  Sargon  in  the  fall  of  Samaria,  and  then 
by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  the  siege  and  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  —  not  once,  but 
twice,  would  the  martial  might  of  Jehovah 
smite  that  ruthless  power  beyond  the  river, 
until  the  white  steeds  of  his  celestial  army 
would  return  with  the  joyous  trophies  of 
His  victory.  Or  did  the  Jewish  community 
look  further  back  to  the  birthtime  of  their 
nation,  and  recall  the  bitter  oppression  of 
their  fathers  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile  ?  The 
spotted  or  speckled  horses  went  forth  in  that 
direction  to  enforce  the  divine  will  among 
the    swarthy    inhabitants    of     the    south. 

127 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

While,  to  complete  the  cycle  of  divine  super- 
vision and  government,  the  red  horses  (so 
the  Syriac  and  Aquila  in  ver.  7)  rushed  forth 
full  of  energy  and  eagerness  to  seek  a  field 
of  action  for  themselves,  and  were  honoured 
by  receiving  a  roving  commission — to  go  to 
and  fro  through  the  earth,  and  strike  a  blow 
for  righteousness  wherever  the  forces  of 
evil  or  the  purposes  of  Jehovah  should 
require.  From  no  quarter  of  the  globe, 
indeed,  was  Israel  to  fear  the  approach  of 
any  possible  invader.  For  even  now  the 
Lord  of  Hosts  had  seized  all  the  strategical 
points  by  means  of  His  celestial  warriors, 
and  no  power  on  earth  would  be  able  to 
break  through  their  serried  ranks,  and 
despoil  or  harass  His  people.  In  a  word, 
the  long-promised  "  shaking  of  the  nations  " 
was  no  figment  of  the  imagination  after  all. 
The  black  horses  were  a  sufficient  guarantee 
that  the  humbling  of  the  nations  would 
assuredly  be  effected  :  while  the  white  team 
afforded  an  equally  significant  pledge  that 
the  succeeding  era  of  victory  and  peace 
would  be  signalised  by  manifold  blessing  for 

128 


The  Justification  of  Providence 

all.  Hence  the  vision  closes  with  the  strik- 
ing announcement  in  ver.  8  that  the  various 
teams,  having  accomplished  their  allotted 
tasks,  the  spirit  of  the  Lord's  jealousy  was  at 
last  appeased  in  the  north  country,  and  the 
character  of  His  eternal  Providence  justified. 


2.  A  Pledge  of  its  Fulfilment. 

The  last  thing  the  prophet  saw  before 
he  left  the  grove  of  myrtles  was  the  dis- 
appearing forms  of  the  black  and  white 
horses  on  their  mission  to  the  far  north  ; 
and  now  the  fi  st  thing  that  appeals  to  him 
when  he  returns  to  the  city  and  temple  is 
the  sight  of  certain  deputies  from  their 
Babylonian  brethren,  who  have  arrived 
with  princely  gifts  for  the  temple  in  their 
hands  (vers.  9-15).  To  the  spiritually 
illumined  insight  of  the  prophet  the  white 
steeds  of  the  celestial  army  were  already 
beginning  to  return.  For  in  the  visit  of 
these  deputies  there  was  something  more 
than  a  sequel  or  appendix  to  the  entire 
scxies  of  visions ;  there  was  also  a  distinct 
I  129 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

pledge  that  the  teaching  contained  in  the 

preceding  paragraph  was  in  process  of  being 

reahsed.     Even  to  the  duller  comprehension 

of  the  people,  a  visit  from  their  Babylonian 

brethren  was  an  event  that  could  easily  be 

grasped  and  appreciated;  an  event,  therefore, 

that  might  easily  be  utilised  for  their  moral 

and  spiritual  advancement,  if  only  Zechariah 

their  prophet  and  teacher  knew  how. 

That  he  was  not  left  to  his  own  limited 

resources    is    evident    from     the     opening 

formula  of  ver.  9,  "  ^he  word  of  the  Lord 

came  unto  me,''^  saying,  "As  to  the  taking 

of  gifts  from  those  of  the  captivity,  even 

from   Heldai,  from  Tobijah,  from  Jedaiah 

and  from  Josiah  the  son  of  Zephaniah   (so 

Kittel),    who    have    come    from    Babylon ; 

take   indeed  silver   and  gold,   and  make   a 

crown  (singular,  as  in  Job  xxxi.  36),  and  set 

it   upon   the   head   of   Joshua,    the   son   of 

Jehozadak,  the  high  priest."     The  crowning 

of  Zerubbabel,  as  a  type  of  the  Messianic 

fulfilment,   would  have   done   equally  well 

(cf.  iv.  14)  ;    but  there  were  various  reasons, 

not    difficult    to    specify,    why   Joshua    the 

130 


The  Justification  of  Providence 

high  priest  should  be  selected  instead.  For 
one  thing,  a  scion  of  the  house  of  David, 
like  Zerubbabel,  might  have  overlooked  the 
typical  significance  of  the  act,  and  been  led 
to  cherish  ambitions  that  could  scarcely  be 
realised  v^ithin  the  limits  of  the  Jewish 
colony.  In  the  words  of  Pusey,  it  would 
have  been  confusing  in  the  highest  degree — 
"  a  seeming  restoration  of  the  kingdom, 
when  it  was  not  to  be  restored ;  an  en- 
couragement of  the  temporal  hopes,  which 
were  the  bane  of  Israel."  For  a  similar 
reason,  it  might  have  provoked  unnecessary 
complications  with  Persia.  Recognition  of 
a  Jewish  governor,  with  the  standing  of  a 
Persian  satrap,  was  one  thing ;  to  allow 
him  to  assume  the  dignity  and  wear  the 
insignia  of  royalty  was  another  and  totally 
different  matter.  Indeed,  to  one  like 
Zechariah,  no  such  ambiguous  action  was 
possible.  The  type  of  the  coming  Branch 
could  easily  be  found  in  a  different  office 
and  representative.  It  could  be  found  in 
the  person  of  Joshua  the  high  priest.  No 
doubt  it  was  something  new  and  unheard 

131 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

of  in  Israel  to  see  the  high  priest  with  a 
royal  crown  upon  his  head  ;  but  so  far 
from  flattering  Joshua  with  this  instructive 
piece  of  symbolism,  the  proclamation  which 
was  immediately  added  (ver.  12)  was  a 
sufficient  reminder  of  the  essentially  typical 
character  of  the  act. 

"  Speak  unto  them  (all  those  who  were 
present  at  the  symbolical  coronation — so 
Wellhausen),  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts,  Behold  the  man  whose  name  is 
the  Branch  ;  for  He  shall  shoot  up  out  of 
His  place — springing  up  out  of  obscurity 
into  wide-spreading  luxuriance  (cf.  iii.  8) ; 
and  He  shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord  ; 
and  He  shall  wear  the  insignia  {Ehrenzierde^ 
Orelli)  and  sit  and  rule  upon  his  throne; 
and  He  shall  be  a  priest  upon  his  throne — 
not  less  than  a  ruler — and  the  counsel  of 
peace  shall  be  between  them  both."  Clearly 
in  this  depiction  of  the  coming  Branch  we 
are  carried  a  great  deal  further  than  in 
chap.  iii.  8.  Not  only  is  He  to  grow  and 
flourish  like  the  goodly  cedar,  until  His 
benign  shadow  fills  the  land  ;   but,  as  God's 

132 


The  Justification  of  Providence 

vicegerent  on  earth,  He  will  do,  what  no 
Zerubbabel  or  Joshua  can  do,  build  the 
ideal,  world-wide  temple  of  Jehovah,  of 
which  Zerubbabel's,  or  even  Solomon's 
temple,  was  only  the  instructive  type. 
Nay,  more,  in  so  building  and  extending 
the  spiritual  kingdom  of  Jehovah,  He  will 
exercise  the  dominion  and  wear  the  highest 
honours  of  royalty ;  He  will  be  a  priest  for 
ever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek  (Ps.  ex.  4). 
He  will  be  both  King  and  Priest — a  King 
whose  interests  are  entirely  taken  up  with 
the  erection  of  a  spiritual  temple,  and  yet 
a  Priest  whose  sacerdotal  functions  will  be 
equally  consecrated  to  the  well-being  of 
Jehovah's  throne  and  people.  In  a  word, 
He  will  be  a  spiritual  king,  or  a  royal  priest, 
whose  sole  object  and  continual  endeavour 
will  be  to  secure  an  era  of  abiding  and 
universal  peace. 

Who  could  read  so  sublime  a  delineation 
of  Israel's  future  and  conclude  that  the 
coronation  of  Joshua  began  and  ended  with 
himself  ?  It  was  a  ceremonial  transaction 
that  pomted  far  beyond  its  more  immediate 

133 


The  Man  among  the  Myrtles 

application.  It  was  at  once  a  memorial  and 
a  pledge  —  a  memorial  of  the  truth  that 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,  had  indeed 
returned  to  His  people,  and  a  pledge  of 
the  ultimate  victory  and  supremacy  of 
Jehovah's  cause.  It  was  therefore  to  be 
read  in  the  light  of  Israel's  spiritual  calling, 
and  accepted  as  a  vindication  of  her  unde- 
caying  hope.  The  crown  itself,  no  less  than 
the  coronation,  ought  to  be  interpreted 
and  preserved  from  the  same  idealistic 
standpoint.  Let  it  be  laid  up  in  the  temple 
as  a  memorial  for  Heldai,  and  for  Tobijah, 
and  for  Jedaiah,  and  for  Josiah  the  son  of 
Zephaniah  (reading  Heldai  for  Helem,  and 
Josiah  for  Hen,  according  to  the  Syriac 
and  ver.  lo) — a  memorial  of  the  gifts  and 
sacrifices  already  brought  and  dedicated  to 
the  service  of  Jehovah  ;  but  a  pledge  also  of 
the  far  more  costly  presents  that  would  yet  be 
brought  and  presented  by  all  nations  in  the 
glory  of  the  Messianic  fulfilment.  "They 
that  are  afar  off  shall  come  and  build  in  the 
temple  of  the  Lord,  and  ye  shall  know  that 
the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me  unto  you." 

134 


The  Justification  of  Providence 

And  yet,  finally,  what  is  the  meaning  of 
the  solemn  ethical  condition,  which  this 
preacher  of  righteousness  has  placed  at  the 
close  of  the  present  chapter — "  This  shall 
come  to  pass,  if  ye  will  diligently  obey  the 
voice  of  the  Lord  your  God"  ?  Does  it  mean 
that  the  advent  of  the  Messianic  age  and  the 
ultimate  ingathering  of  the  nations,  are 
made  dependent  on  the  loyalty  and  obedience 
of  Israel  ?  Does  it  suggest  that  the  white 
steeds  of  Jehovah's  army  will  never  again 
be  seen  in  the  grove  of  myrtles,  unless  Israel, 
according  to  the  flesh,  be  there  to  bid 
them  welcome  ?  No,  the  vindication  of 
eternal  providence  is  not  always  easy  in 
any  circumstances ;  but  to  postulate  the 
ultimate  thwarting  of  Jehovah's  plan, 
because  of  the  disloyalty  of  any  particular 
nation,  would  render  any  such  vindication 
impossible.  The  ethical  condition  is  added, 
not  for  the  sake  of  the  Messianic  fulfilment, 
but  for  Israel's  sake,  that  she  might  have 
a  part,  a  large  and  worthy  part,  in  the 
final  coronation.  Her  disloyalty  would  not 
thwart    the    divine    plan.     The    Messianic 

135 


The  Man  among  the   Myrtles 

age  would  assuredly  be  ushered  in,  and  so, 
too,  would  the  final  ingathering  of  the 
nations  ;  but  a  disobedient  Israel  would  not 
be  there  to  see  it,  the  Lord  of  the  whole 
earth  would  be  crowned  without  her.  The 
eternal  providence  of  Jehovah  would  not 
be  thwarted.  If  it  were  not  wrought  out 
in  Israel's  loyalty  and  devotion,  it  would 
be  wrought  out  in  Israel's  rejection.  And 
yet  this  need  not  be.  The  whole  object  of 
Zechariah's  visions  has  been  to  render  all 
such  failure  on  the  part  of  Israel  a  practical 
impossibility.  Let  the  chosen  nation  but 
turn  to  the  Lord,  and  realise  the  greatness 
of  her  spiritual  destiny,  and  her  part  in 
the  final  triumph  of  Jehovah's  cause  would 
be  fully  assured.  The  white  steeds  of  the 
celestial  army  would  again  be  seen  in  the 
Kedron  valley.  They  would  arrive  and  give 
in  their  report  to  the  Lord  of  the  whole 
earth.  And  when  that  report  was  trumpeted 
forth  from  between  the  two  mountains  of 
brass,  all  the  world  would  know  that  God's 
eternal  providence  had  been  justified. 


136 


APPENDIX 

The  Value  of  Exposition 

A  STRONG  reaction  in  the  direction  of  re- 
vived Bible  study  is  "  one  of  the  great 
desiderata  of  our  times."  So  writes  one  of 
the  ablest  of  our  present-day  teachers,  and 
all  the  signs  seem  to  suggest  that  he  is  right. 
The  hour  has  arrived  for  a  frank  presenta- 
tion of  the  positive  elements  of  divine 
revelation,  and  for  a  candid  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  the  time  of  reconstruction 
has  come.  This  reaction  ought  to  be 
cordially  welcomed  and  encouraged.  In 
addition  to  all  our  reading  about  the  Bible 
— its  origin,  its  history  and  its  inspiration — 
we  shall  do  well  to  read  a  good  deal  more 
in  it,  and  show  through  all  the  avenues  of 
modern  education  what  are  its  true  con- 
tents and  character.  It  may  easily  happen 
that  for  the  Church  of  the  future  there  is 

137 


Appendix 

a  great  sp^ritual  uplift  along  this  path.  God 
will  honour  His  word  if  we  do.  Only  let 
the  practical  aspects  of  the  subject  be  duly 
emphasised,  and  the  motto  of  each  student 
be— 

**  O  my  soul,  thou  hungry  bird. 
Taste  the  honey  of  the  Word." 

This,  however,  must  imply  a  first-hand 
acquaintance  with  the  text.  The  exposi- 
tion desiderated  has  to  be  true  to  all  the 
criteria  of  Bible  interpretation  as  known 
to  modern  scholarship.  Hebrew  syntax, 
Septuagint  Greek,  New  Testament  syno- 
nyms and  Hebraic  figures  of  speech  are 
all  needed  for  a  due  appreciation  of  the 
Sacred  Writings ;  and  there  will  be  no 
powerful  reaction  in  the  direction  of  fresh 
Bible  study  until  these  practical  aspects  of 
grammar  and  Hebrew  style  are  intelligently 
grasped  and  utilised.  It  is  from  this  point 
of  view  that  the  foregoing  studies  in 
Zechariah's  visions  have  been  written.  At 
every  step  they  have  sought  to  keep  in  touch 
with  the  text.  They  have  been  based,  first 
and   chief,   on   the   wealth   of   information 

138 


Appendix 

contained  in  the  Oxford  Hebrew  Lexicon^ 
and  on  the  suggestive  and  luminous  foot- 
notes in  Kittel's  Hebrew  Bible,  If,  in 
addition  to  these,  the  author  were  asked  to 
tabulate  the  six  best  helps,  among  easily- 
accessible  literature,  for  the  preparation 
of  similar  lectures  on  "  The  Man  among 
the  Myrtles,"  he  might  specify  the  follow- 
ing :■— 

Zechariah  and  his  Prophecies^  by  C.  H. 
H.  Wright.  This  was  the  Bampton  Lec- 
ture for  1878,  and  is  easily  one  of  the  best 
books  on  the  subject. 

Die  Kleinen  Profheten^  by  J.  Wellhausen. 
The  short  exegetical  notes  are  most  illumi- 
nating, and  always  provocative  of  thought. 
Cf.  also  the  article,  "  Zechariah,"  by  the 
same  author  in  the  Ency.Brit,  and  Ency,  BibL 

Die  Zwolf  Kleinen  Propheten^  by  C.  von 
Orelli,  in  the  Kurzgefasster  Kommentar, 
of  which  a  translation  is  published  by 
T.  &  T.  Clark. 

The  Minor  Prophets,  by  E.  B.  Pusey — ^a 
book  that  will  yield  many  a  gem  to  the 
expositor. 

139 


Appendix 

Haggai,  Zechariahy  and  Malachi,  by- 
Marcus  Dods,  in  the  Series  of  Hand-Books 
for  Bible  Classes.  No  preacher  can  read 
this  little  book  without  being  deeply  in- 
debted to  it.     It  is  a  model  of  condensation. 

The  Prophets  of  Israel,  hy  C.  H.  Cornill, 
in  the  "  Religion  of  Science  Library."  For 
any  one  who  wishes  to  read  a  brilliant  and 
fascinating  sketch  of  Hebrew  prophecy  as 
a  whole,  no  more  helpful  or  reasonable 
purchase  could  be  suggested  than  this  little 
volume.  It  may  be  had  through  Kegan 
Paul,  Trench,  Triibner  &  Co.,  London, 
price  IS.  6d. 


The  first  two  studies,  "  The  Prophet  Zechariah  "  and 
**The  Man  among  the  Myrtles,"  appeared  in  substance 
in  The  Homiletic  Review ;  and  thanks  are  due  to  the 
Publishers  for  kind  permission  to  reproduce  them  in  this 
little  volume. 


140 


INDEX 


A,   SCRIPTURE  PASSAGES 


Gen.  xl.  4  .     . 

,,  xvii.  1-2 
Ex.  xxix.  5-6  . 
Lev.  xvi.  4  .     . 

,,  xvi.  10  . 
Deut.  xxxii.  10 
Josh.  V.  14  ,     . 

1  Kings  xxii.  1 1 

2  Kings  vi.  17 

„  xxv.  7 
2  Chron.  ix.  29 
Neh.  vi.  16 

„    xii.  4 . 
Isa.  iv.  2     . 

„    xi.  I    . 

,,   xii.  6  . 

,,    xviii.  4 

,,    xix.  24 

„    xii.  19 

,,    liii.  2  . 

„    liv.  I    . 

,,    Ivi.  7  . 
Jer.  i.  12,  14 

,,    xxiii.  5 


PAGE 

117 

10 

75 

75 

116 

51 
26 

39 
29 

38 
3 

53 
4 
79 
79 
62 

30 
47 
19 
80 
62 
88 
9 
79 


PAGE 

Jer.  xxxiii.  15  ...     .       79 

Ezek.  xvii.  4    . 

.     .     117 

,,     xxii,  26  . 

•     •       71 

Dan.  viii.  7-20     . 

.     40,  42 

Amos  viii.  .     . 

. 107,  114 

Joel  iii.  12  .     . 

.     .     125 

Zeph.  i.  12 

.       106 

,,     iii.  14     . 

.         62 

Hag.  i.  4    .     . 

.       106 

.,     ii.  3    •     . 

93 

,,    ii.  20 

.  4,  17 

Zech.  xiv.  4.    . 

125 

Ps.  vii.  12  .     .     , 

"5 

,,  xi.  2      .     . 

"S 

,,  ex.  4     .     . 

133 

,,  cxxv.  2  .      . 

62 

,,  cxxvii.  2     .     , 

21 

,,  cxxxii.  17  . 

39 

,,  cxxxvii.  8-9 

45 

Job  i.  10     .     .     . 

62 

,,    xxxi.  36    .     . 

130 

I  Pet.  ii.  9  .     .     , 

100 

Rev.  i.  13   .     ,     . 

100 

B.   SUBJECTS 


Blessing,  Fulness  of,  97. 

"  Branch,"  The,  78,  94,  131. 

Commercialism,       106,      1 15, 

118. 
Covenant  love,  12. 
Discipline,  41,  63. 


Duty,  The  present,  55. 
Election,  88,  100. 
Ideal,  Israel's,  57,  87,  1 17. 
Ideal,  Political,  67,  85,  90. 
Inspiration,  23,  86. 
Liberality,  129. 


141 


Index 


Mediation,  99. 
Meditation,  19. 
Patriotism,  6,  18,  61,  89. 
Perjury,  in. 
Priesthood,  74,  133. 
Protection,    Divine,    28, 
128. 


73, 


Repentance,  9. 

Silence,  Divine,  30. 

Sin,  7,  37,  71. 

Small  things,  Day  of,  93. 

Visions,  20. 

War,  Horror  of,  37. 

Youth,  4,  54. 


C.   QUOTATIONS 


Clark,  Raymund  M.,  28. 
Faber,  F.  W.,  46. 
Herodotus,  IIO. 
Herrick,  12. 
Horace,  9,  39. 
Jowett,  24. 


Kliefoth,  70. 
Milton,  118,  12$. 
Pusey,  II,  131. 
Savonarola,  20. 
Tennyson,  117. 
Tolstoy,  118. 


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